On April 18, Zach Condon will be releasing the largest and most unexpected Beirut album to date. An 18-track odyssey that is commissioned by Swedish circus Kompani Giraff and inspired by German author Judith Schalansky’s novel Verzeichnis einiger Verluste.

While A Study of Losses journeys through 11 songs and seven extended instrumental themes that are inspired by the chilling tale of a man obsessed with archiving all of humanity’s lost thoughts and creations, the new single “Tuanaki Atoll” explores a South Pacific paradise that strangely vanished in the 19th Century.

“The Tuanaki Atoll is said to have been an Eden-like island somewhere in the South Pacific that mysteriously disappeared under the sea during an earthquake in the 1840s. Its inhabitants were described as a people so peaceful and generous that they had no word in their language for such things as war or murder. It might be almost too obvious of a choice but nothing could fit the island vibes better than a sweet and breezy ukulele which became the foundation that I built this song around. Contrastingly yet somewhat fittingly, the lyrics took on a darker edge and ended up reflecting that side of the story. Maybe because personally I doubt that such an Eden-like place could ever exist on Earth.” said Condon.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat