Last fall, Beirut aka Zach Condon released Hadsel, his first new album in more than four years. In March of this year, Condon contributed trumpet to Efterklang’s “Getting Reminders.” Today, Condon/Beirut is back with a brand-new single, “Caspian Tiger,” which is part of the soundtrack Condon composed for the Swedish contemporary circus Kompani Giraff’s international touring production, A Study Of Losses (coming to Dansens Hus in Stockholm, December 27-January 5. The accompanying stage performance depicts a free interpretation of German author Judith Schalansky’s novel Verzeichnis einiger Verluste.

Here’s Condon’s statement about “Caspian Tiger” and composing the soundtrack for a circus:

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 pigeonholed for years as a whimsical circus waif, full of sepia-toned images of penny farthings and perhaps lion tamers with handlebar mustaches. 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. ‘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.

In other good Beirut news, Condon has announced his first tour dates in six years. Check those out, plus a video for “Caspian Tiger.”

TOUR DATES:
05/01 – Utrecht, Netherlands @ TivoliVredenburg – Grote Zaal
05/02 – Utrecht, Netherlands @ TivoliVredenburg – Grote Zaal
05/05 – Brussels, Belgium @ Cirque Royal
05/06 – Brussels, Belgium @ Cirque Royal
05/08 – London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton

“Caspian Tiger” is out now via Pompeii Records.