Beirut shares new single "Tuanaki Atoll" from upcoming album "A Study Of Losses" out 18th April via Pompeii Records || UK + EU live dates in May including sold-out Brixton Academy show
One month from today, on 18th April, Zach Condon returns with the largest and most unexpected Beirut album to date. Released via his own Pompeii Records, A Study Of Losses is an 18-track odyssey commissioned by Swedish circus Kompani Giraff for an acrobatic stage show of the same name. As a free interpretation of Verzeichnis einiger Verluste, the novel by German author Judith Schalansky, A Study of Losses journeys through eleven songs and seven extended instrumental themes, named after the lunar seas and inspired by the chilling tale of a man obsessed with archiving all of humanity’s lost thoughts and creations. Like Verzeichnis einiger Verluste, A Study of Losses finds Condon writing about disappearance, preservation and the impermanence of everything known to us – extinct animal species, lost architectural and literary treasures, the process of aging and other abstract concepts.
Following earlier singles “Caspian Tiger” and “Guericke's Unicorn”, today Beirut has shared new single and album highlight “Tuanaki Atoll”, a track that explores a South Pacific paradise that strangely vanished in the 19th Century. Click HERE to listen.
“The Tuanaki Atoll is said to have been an Eden-like island somewhere in the South Pacific that mysteriously disappeared under the sea during an earthquake in the 1840s. Its inhabitants were described as a people so peaceful and generous that they had no word in their language for such things as war or murder. It might be almost too obvious of a choice but nothing could fit the island vibes better than a sweet and breezy ukulele which became the foundation that I built this song around. Contrastingly yet somewhat fittingly, the lyrics took on a darker edge and ended up reflecting that side of the story. Maybe because personally I doubt that such an Eden-like place could ever exist on Earth.” - Zach Condon
Early acclaim for A Study Of Losses:
“At 18 tracks and nearly an hour long, the album is his most ambitious yet, a spread of indie pop with a strong choral element, canzone, ambient, modern chamber pop and medieval and Renaissance music. A Study Of Losses is a further example of his fluency in the ancient, internationally shared languages of wonder and imagining.” Uncut – 8/10
“A Study Of Losses’ deep dive into grief and impermanence indulges Cordon’s already melancholic disposition for what might be his most beautiful record to date.” MOJO – 4 stars ****
A Study of Losses is the second new Beirut album in just two years, and the continuation of another characteristically prolific chapter for Zach Condon. Following half a decade spent recovering from persistent throat issues and impending mental collapse – leaving him questioning whether he would ever perform in front of an audience again – A Study of Losses arrives on the heels of Hadsel which was released to universal acclaim in November 2023. Whereas Hadsel was centred around a towering, antique church organ that Condon discovered during a dark arctic winter in Northern Norway, A Study of Losses is brightened by string quartets and arrangements from cellist and “No No No” collaborator Clarice Jensen.
Written and recorded by Zach Condon in both Berlin, DE and Stokmarknes, NO, with the album’s roots spanning Sweden and Germany, A Study of Losses also expands the wide world that he has built through the music of Beirut, ever since he first began the project as a curious and itinerant 14-year-old. “When I was first approached about writing a soundtrack for a circus, a certain amount of ‘Elephant Gun’ era trauma initially came rushing up,” as Condon explained, when sharing A Study of Losses’ “Caspian Tiger” the end of 2024. “I had been pigeon-holed for years as a whimsical circus waif, full of sepia-toned images of penny farthings and perhaps lion tamers with handlebar moustaches. It couldn’t have been further from how I pictured the music I was making. Ironic then, that I found Kompani Giraff’s project so enticing.”
Zach Condon will soon return to the road for Beirut’s first tour since 2019. From May 1st-9th, Condon will be backed by a new and returning ensemble of band members, playing sets that span Beirut’s discography and A Study of Losses. Venues include Netherlands’ TivoliVredenburg, Belgium’s Cirque Royal and the UK’s O2 Academy Brixton, which is now sold out. Due to overwhelming demand, a second UK date has just been added at London’s Troxy. Upcoming live dates below:
May 1 - Utrecht, Netherlands - TivoliVredenburg - Grote Zaal
May 2 - Utrecht, Netherlands - TivoliVredenburg - Grote Zaal
May 5 - Brussels, Belgium - Cirque Royal
May 6 - Brussels, Belgium - Cirque Royal
May 8 - London, UK - O2 Academy Brixton *(SOLD-OUT!)*
May 9 London, UK – Troxy
A Study Of Losses artwork and tracklist:
1. Disappearances and Losses
2..Forest Encyclopedia
3. Oceanus Procellarum
4. Villa Sacchetti
5. Mare Crisium
6. Garbo’s Face
7. Mare Imbrium
8. Tuanaki Atoll
9. Mare Serenitatis
10. Guericke’s Unicorn
11. Mare Humorum
12. Sappho’s Poems
13. Ghost Train
14. Caspian Tiger
15. Mani’s 7 Books
16. Moon Voyager
17. Mare Nectaris
18. Mare Tranquillitatis
Follow Beirut:
