Beirut announced new album Hadsel in August with lead single “So Many Plans.” Zach Condon’s band is sharing another advance track from the album today. “The Tern,” the new LP’s penultimate track, builds something grand over a syncopated pulse that sounds like a preset. There’s an almost hymnal quality to the long sustained organ chords and Condon’s semi-formal vocal presence. The way the percussion builds up around the song’s droning core is quite pretty; by the end of it, I’m damn near overwhelmed.

Condon shared this statement:

The base of this song comes from an old Roland synthesizer and drum machine part which I had lying around from a previous Berlin session. The lyrics I improvised on the spot and finished the song off by adding layers of church organs and hand percussion. I stacked the parts high despite always being afraid of overdoing it. In the end I was confused how I had written such a seemingly positive and even hopeful song, but once I took a closer look at the lyrics, I saw the real nature of the hidden defeat and triumph of caution rather than of hope.

Listen below.

Hadsel is out 11/10 on Pompeii.