Beirut Share Video for New Single ‘Caspian Tiger’

Beirut has released a new song titled ‘Caspian Tiger’. The track was originally written as part of the soundtrack Zach Condon composed for Swedish circus company Kompani Giraff’s touring production A Study of Losses. Along with the release, Condon has announced his first tour since 2019, a European trek that includes shows in Utrecht, Brussels, and London. (The musician cancelled shows in 2019 to recover from recurring acute laryngitis.) Check out director Jan Pivoňka’s video for ‘Caspian Tiger’ as well as the list of dates 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,” Condon said in a statement. “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 continued. “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.”

‘Caspian Tiger’, released via Condon’s own Pompeii Records, follows the 2023 Beirut record Hadsel. Read our interview with Beirut about the inspirations behind the album.

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, England – O2 Academy Brixton

Konstantinos Pappis
Konstantinos Pappis
Konstantinos Pappis is a writer, journalist, and music editor at Our Culture. His work has also appeared in Pitchfork, GIGsoup, and other publications. He currently lives in Athens, Greece.
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