Beirut

Unfortunately Beirut have had to cancel their performance. Zach received a diagnosis of acute laryngitis so sadly the tour has to be cancelled while he heals. The band and crew had been looking forward to the tour and are very sorry to share the news.

The 12-track Gallipoli started life in the winter of 2016, with Zach Condon returning to his old Farfisa organ, the same one used to write the first two Beirut albums. Following recording stints in New York and Berlin, Condon settled in Sudestudio, a studio complex deep in rural Puglia, southern Italy. It was here that he rediscovered the old joys of music as a visceral experience which became the founding principle for the album.

The title track Gallipoli is a cathartic embrace of old and new. Condon says, '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. The next day I wrote the song entirely in one sitting, pausing only to eat.'

'Tremendously beautiful music' ★★★★ Rolling Stone