Beirut announces new album A Study Of Losses and releases lead single ‘Guericke’s Unicorn’

Zach Condon has announced that Beirut's expansive new album A Study Of Losses comes out April 18 on his own Pompeii Records. The announcement comes with the release of the lead single 'Guericke's Unicorn'. The project is composed for a Swedish contemporary circus and adapted from a German novel.

A Study of Losses is an 18-track album and was commissioned by Swedish circus Kompani Giraff for an acrobatic stage show of the same name.

As an interpretation of the novel by German author Judith Schalansky, Verzeichnis einiger Verluste, A Study of Losses journeys through eleven songs and seven extended instrumental themes.

Zach Condon spoke on the process and intentions of the new single:

“Guericke’s unicorn is a supposed reconstruction of a fossil unicorn which was actually created from the bones of a bunch of different animals like the wooly mammoth and a narwhal. It’s worth looking up the image.

"I’ve always been fascinated by these kinds of bizarre chapters and odd side notes of history, and I wanted to reflect the unorthodox / eccentric madness of that ‘unicorn’ in a more playful song that is somewhat disjointed from the rest of the album. I think my music can have that disjointed / chaotic tendency in general, but with the whole album otherwise being somewhat uniformly baroque inspired, ‘Guericke’s Unicorn’ really makes for an outlier on this record, having its origin in an old modular synth experiment of mine.”

A Study of Losses is the second Beirut album in two years, following Hadsel. Condon wrote and recorded the project in both Berlin and Norway.

He explained: "When I was first approached about writing a soundtrack for a circus, a certain amount of ‘Elephant Gun’ era trauma initially came rushing up.

“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 dates in six years. He spent half a decade recovering from persistent throat issues and mental health issues, making him question whether he would be able to perform in front of an audience again.

From May 1-9, Condon will be backed by a new and returning ensemble of band members, playing sets that showcase 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 demand, a second UK date has been added at London’s Troxy; Tickets for the new show will be available from 10am February 14.

Watch the music video for 'Guericke's Unicorn' below: