American indie-rock outfit Beirut has announced a new album set for release on February 1st, 2019. This past Monday, the band released “Gallipoli,” the first single and title track from the album. They took to Twitter to tell fans about the upcoming record.
The track is a quirky, brass-fueled tune that fits right into the band’s collection. Founding band member Zach Condon says the song comes from an experience he had in Italy. Condon recalls the experience in an article at Spin,
“We stumbled into a medieval-fortress 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, before returning late to Sudestudio. The next day I wrote the song I ended up calling ‘Gallipoli’ entirely in one sitting, pausing only to eat…It felt to me like a cathartic mix of all the old and new records and seemed to return me to the old joys of music as a visceral experience.”
The band also announced a North American and European tour beginning in February. The dates are available on Beirut’s website. Listen to the title track below.
Who Are Beirut?
Beirut has always used a dynamic mixture of sounds to create light, easygoing indie folk music. On their last album, No No No, Beirut use bongos, horns, and a piano to create sunny songs like “Gibraltar” and “August Holland.” Both songs are hard not to tap a foot to. They are just very simple and wholesome sounding songs.
Although Beirut began as the solo project of singer and composer Condon, more than a dozen musicians have been credited as playing a role in the band, whether on stage, in studios in New York and Berlin, or both.
A Beirut show would make a nice date and their album “Gallipoli” is sure to be a great soundtrack for making dinner, taking that road trip, or just hanging out on a snowy afternoon.
