Beirut released a new album, Hadsel, last year, but aside from 3 Berlin shows in February, he hasn’t toured since 2019 (when he also cancelled dates to recover from recurring acute laryngitis). That will soon change, as he’s announced a European run in May of 2025, including two shows each in Utrecht and Brussels, and one in London. According to a press release, he’ll have a new backing band for the shows, and new music to perform. Tickets go on sale Thursday, November 21 at 10 AM GMT, with presales starting Monday, November 18 at 10 AM GMT.
He’s also shared a new single, “Caspian Tiger.” It’s part of the soundtrack Zach Condon composed for Swedish circus company Kompani Giraff’s touring production A Study of Losses, and you can watch the video, directed by Jan Pivoňka, below. “When I was first approached about writing a soundtrack for a circus, a certain amount of Elephant Gun era trauma initially came rushing up,” Zach says. “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. I had been quietly avoiding the subject for years.”
“Ironic then, that I found Kompani Giraff’s project so enticing, and writing something for acrobats to perform so enjoyable,” he continues. “Caspian Tiger was one of the first songs I wrote for the new album, with images in mind of the poor animals caged or fighting in Roman colosseums. They had been taken from the Asian steppes around the Caspian Sea and from as far east as Tashkent, an area I’ve been fascinated by for years. The sonic influence came in large part from choir music that I was obsessing over at the time. Perhaps I subconsciously aimed to embrace and even improve on the imagery I had been originally written off for.”
BEIRUT: 2025 TOUR DATES
May 1 – Utrecht, Netherlands – TivoliVredenburg – Grote Zaal
May 2 – Utrecht, Netherlands – TivoliVredenburg – Grote Zaal
May 5 – Brussels, Belgium – Cirque Royal
May 6 – Brussels, Belgium – Cirque Royal
May 8 – London, UK – O2 Academy Brixton