Last week, Zach Condon announced that a new Beirut album titled Gallipoli was forthcoming. Today we have a release date, tracklist, and the album’s title track as its first single. Gallipolli will drop Feb. 1 via 4AD and was produced by Gabe Wax, who helmed the production for 2015’s No No No. “Gallipoli” was inspired after a day exploring the Italian city of the same name, according to the lengthy letter Condon shared on Beirut’s website last week.
“We stumbled into a 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," writes Condon. "The next day I wrote the song I ended up calling ‘Gallipoli’ entirely in one sitting, pausing only to eat.”
Beirut will be embarking on a tour behind the album in 2019, with a date in Seattle on Wednesday, February 27 at the Paramount Theatre. Listen to “Gallipoli” below.
“The hiatus is back off, again (as the Beastie Boys once put it)"
The record will be the band's fourth studio album and first since 2015's No No No
