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Zach Condon previewed his upcoming fifth Beirut LP, Gallipoli, with the record’s beaming, brassy title-track. The single finds the songwriter crooning through a fuzz effect over a swirl of stately trumpets, spacey Farfisa organ and throbbing percussion.
In a statement, Condon detailed the song’s visual inspiration and quick conception in rural Southern Italy. “We stumbled into the medieval-fortressed island town of Gallipoli one night and followed a brass band procession fronted by priests carrying a statue of the town’s saint through the winding narrow streets behind what seemed like the entire town,” he said. “The next day I wrote the song entirely in one sitting, pausing only to eat.”
Condon recorded Gallipoli– out February 1st, 2019 via 4AD – partly in the Sudestudio in Puglia, Italy, following stints in New York and his current home of Berlin, Germany. His writing sessions date back to the winter of 2016, when he returned to the original Farfisa organ he used to craft his first two Beirut LPs, 2006’s Gulag Orkestar and 20017’s The Flying Club Cup.
Beirut will promote Gallipoli with a headlining tour that kicks off February 10th in New York, New York. The North American leg runs through March 5th in Los Angeles, California, followed by a stretch of European dates. Tickets go on sale Friday, October 26th at 10 a.m. local time.
