Beirut: 2015

It’s been four years between albums for Zach Condon and Beirut. While 2011’s The Rip Tide was a turning point in the success in the band, the wake of that success left Zach suffering from exhaustion and severe writer’s block. Thankfully, he was “saved” from his self-doubt by his longtime bandmates through a focus on a workaday approach and daily jam sessions. This change of action led to a new collection of songs, written in record time. It's a simplified and percussion-centric album with an infusion of energy that the band is now using to reinvigorate and reimagine its older material in live performances.

We were treated to both during Beirut’s recent return to Studio A. Condon also told us some background stories behind some of the new song titles from No No No, drawing on his recent years spent in Turkey with his fiancée. Once again, the globe-trotting Condon has newfound inspiration to draw from, reveling in new landscapes, new love and, maybe for the first time, a recognition of the unique gifts he already had, right here at home.