Beirut

Beirut is geography. The group is the musical calling of an American from New Mexico who travelled through Europe at 16 and fell in love with the gypsy music of Goran Bregović and the feel of Paris. Zach Condon named his brainchild after the Lebanese capital. For him, the Paris of the Middle East is a place where cultures collide and merge. The big breakthrough came with 'Nantes', the 2007 Christmas single. Condon gradually strengthened his gipsy sounds with lush orchestrations and ended up with a party mix that is as subtle as it is infectious. By now, he needed a small football team to bring that rich sound to full strength. The new tour features music Condon wrote for Swedish circus Kompani Giraff. So typically Beirut.