Beirut’s Zach Condon has announced a new double-LP compilation called Artifacts, comprising some of the band’s early EPs along with B-sides, rarities and unreleased material from throughout their career.
Hear the previously unreleased song “Fisher Island Sound” below:
“This song was written while staying in band member Ben Lanz’s old family cottage on the coast of Connecticut, on the Fisher Island Sound,” says Condon. “I played with the lines for years before trying to record versions of it in Brooklyn with the band. Perrin Cloutier had taught himself how to play a new button accordion beautifully, and the band was really sounding their best. I however, struggled in those years to put vocals on the songs and ended up scrapping a lot of the music from that era in this part of the collection due to fear, stress and self-doubt. I’ve come to rediscover some of these old songs in a different light since then, but they do remain a heavy reminder of unsteady times.”
Artifacts will be released digitally on January 28 via Condon’s Pompeii Records, with the physical release following on March 4. Pre-order the album here and peruse the full tracklisting below:
SIDE A – Lon Gisland, Transatlantique, O Leãozinho
01 – Elephant Gun
02 – My Family’s Role In The World Revolution
03 – Scenic World
04 – The Long Island Sound
05 – Carousels
06 – Transatantique
07 – O Leãozinho
SIDE B – The Misfits
08 – Autumn Tall Tales
09 – Fyodor Dormant
10 – Poisoning Claude
11 – Bercy
12 – Your Sails
13 – Irrlichter
SIDE C – New Directions and Early Works
14 – Sicily
15 – Now I’m Gone
16 – Napoleon On The Bellerophon
17 – Interior of a Dutch House
18 – Fountains and Tramways
19 – Hot Air Balloon
SIDE D – The B-Sides
20 – Fisher Island Sound
21 – So Slowly
22 – Die Treue zum Ursprung
23 – The Crossing
24 – Zagora
25 – Le Phare Du Cap Bon
26 – Babylon