Artifacts
Zach Condon, the mastermind behind Beirut, announces Artifacts, a double-LP’s worth of music that traces the evolution of Beirut from a 14-year old Condon’s first attempts at bringing the music he heard in his mind to life, to the fully formed Beirut we know today. Artifacts began humbly as a means of compiling a few early Beirut EPs for a proper physical release. However, as Condon explains in the album’s excellent liner notes, reconnecting with old recordings through fresh ears turned a simple re-issue project into something much more expansive.
Beirut’s Zach Condon discovered Balkan brass music whilst travelling Europe in his youth, it became a sound he embraced when making his accomplished debut album, Gulag Orkestar, a record that belied his years and quickly put him on the map. Marking a fervently creative period for Zach, both an EP, Lon Gisland, and celebrated second album, The Flying Club Cup, followed just a year later. His double EP, March of the Zapotec and Real People Holland (one recorded with a 19-piece Mexican group, the other six electronic tracks made under the pseudonym Realpeople), offered a slight departure in sound before third full-length, Rip Tide, came five years after his debut and was noted by critics for showing a new maturity in his songcraft. Zach worked with producer Gabe Wax for both his fourth album, No No No, and his 2019 release, Gallipoli, which is named after the town in Puglia, Italy near where the record was made and “a distillation of the best of the Beirut sound and by far their best record yet” (The Line of Best Fit).
