BEIRUT Schallplatten & CDs

Review: This is the seventh album by chamber pop titans Beirut. The group, who are led by Zach Condon, have created their largest album to-date and it's among their most profoundly beautiful. The music originated in 2023 when a contemporary circus director, based in Sweden, who was creating a show based on an adaptation of a novel by German author Judith Schalansky about loss and impermanence asked Condon to write music. And who better than Beirut to score that theme. Condon's vocals are starkly beautiful with the tenderness of early choir music. The track 'Caspian Tiger' is among the most cinematic of the tracks on here with resplendent Renaissance influences and direct lyrics that are tear jerking and feel genuinely moved by the extinction of the great mammal, but could so easily be about a close friend lost.

Review: B-sides and rarities spanning Beirut's entire recording career are compiled on this elegant-looking and musically exceptional double outing. Artifacts was initially conceived as a vehicle for pushing out some early work in a formal release, but quickly grew to what you see before you know - 26 songs, 17 of which have never seen been available before now. When you consider what all that means a purchase becomes essential. Zach Cordon began trying to realise his sonic dreams at the tender age of 14, under the Beirut moniker, and has slowly developed from solo project to full blown band. What's here helps tell that tale, and the impact is profound - a spectacular journey from indie to world to folk to electronica and baroque pop by the heads who pioneered that beguiling combination.