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<\/p>\nIN the far north of Norway, beyond the Arctic Circle, lies the municipality of Hadsel.<\/p>\n
Snow-capped peaks, turbulent blue seas, windswept beaches, gnarled birch woodland\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009and the luminous splendour of the Northern Lights.<\/p>\n
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As you might imagine, Hadsel is a haven for wildlife, with elks (aka moose), sea eagles, otters, seals, sea ducks, terns, puffins and cormorants among its inhabitants.<\/p>\n
It is also home to 8,000 hardy Norwegians who live in picturesque communities where most of the houses are wooden and often painted traditional deep red.<\/p>\n
In the depths of winter, however, the sun never rises and the temperature rarely climbs above zero.<\/p>\n
To those who know about American sonic explorer Zach Condon, it probably comes as no surprise that he pitched up there in January 2020\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009the darkest, coldest, bleakest time of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is just unimaginably beautiful,\u201d says the 37-year-old who records under the name Beirut.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s not something I was able to fully process when I first got there, especially as there were only little two-hour windows of twilight a day.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I was looking for extremes. I thought, \u2018What do I love? Well, I love the mountains and the sea. What if I\u2019m given both?\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, nothing spoke to peace of mind and shelter more than being in a fireplace, in a landscape like that, in those extremes.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Burned out by his 2019 tour with Beirut and on the brink of a total breakdown, Zach just wanted to escape from it all.<\/p>\n With his German partner Lena, he rented a cabin on the island of Hadseloya, which forms a major part of Hadsel, but had no idea his stay would take him on his next great musical adventure.<\/p>\n Now he is releasing the sixth Beirut album, simply titled Hadsel, a sublime song cycle capturing the essence of his wild surroundings and putting the sound of the organ front and centre.<\/p>\n It summons the adventurous, uncompromising spirit of Zach\u2019s early recordings.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing there put me in this very humbled state,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can\u2019t walk into scenery like that with a jaded outlook.<\/p>\n \u201cIt breaks all of that down so this album came out very raw.\u201d<\/p>\n Since 2005, when 19-year-old Zach recorded his debut, Gulag Orkestar, a thrilling union of Eastern European folk music and indie sensibilities, much of his work has had a strong geographical identity.<\/p>\n Originally from New Mexico, he even took the name Beirut because the Lebanese capital is a place where cultures collide.<\/p>\n His second album, The Flying Club Cup, has strong French influences, drawing on the music of Jacques Brel, Serge Gainsbourg and Yves Montand.<\/p>\n His last album, 2019\u2019s Gallipoli, is named after the Italian town, not to be confused with the First World War battle in Turkey, and also includes a track dedicated to the Greek island of Corfu.<\/p>\n Eschewing traditional rock instruments, Zach has been known to play the ukulele, trumpet, flugelhorn, mandolin, accordion, conch shell, glockenspiel\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009you name it.<\/p>\n So, when it came to making Hadsel, his fascination with different instruments proved one of his main drivers.<\/p>\n Crucially, he discovered that the rental cabin came with a \u201ctotally functional\u201d old pump organ, a keyboard instrument all the rage in Victorian times.<\/p>\n Speaking from his home in Berlin, Zach says: \u201cThe owner told me, \u2018The organ is loaned to us by this family friend and neighbour who collects and repairs these things\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThat caught my attention and then, in the next email, she said, \u2018Well, for that matter you can talk to this guy \u2014 he\u2019s pretty nice \u2014 he might even let you into the church to play the organ there\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Cue Zach forming a strong bond with Oddvar, a local in his late seventies who, he says, \u201cdidn\u2019t know what to make of me at first\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a lovely person, a real character, who is obsessed with Petter Dass, a [17th century] poet from the region, as well as pump organs and church organs.<\/p>\n \u201cHe also collects these really cool church plates from all over northern Scandinavia and even does taxidermy.\u201d<\/p>\n Zach says Oddvar is like a person from a bygone age. \u201cHis family has to remember to put a cellphone in his pocket every time he leaves the house,\u201d he smiles.<\/p>\n His Norwegian friend is responsible for upkeep of the organ at Hadsel Church, a stunning red and white octagonal wooden building which lies just off the road between the towns of Stokmarknes and Melbu.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the place where the locals \u201cdo all the important things in life\u201d, christenings, marriages, funerals.<\/p>\n The prospect of playing and recording in these hallowed surroundings turned Zach into a man on a mission.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought, \u2018Let me at it\u2019,\u201d he says. \u201cBefore I knew it I was like a beagle on a scent and I started cramming suitcases with my [recording] equipment.<\/p>\n Waving at a large, complex piece of kit behind him, Zach adds: \u201cFor example, I shoved this entire machine into a carrier and took it with me.<\/p>\n \u201cThe original idea was to take time off but, instead, I became really possessed. For me, it was a survival thing.<\/p>\n \u201cMy partner came with me. She thought she was dealing with a guy promising her a relaxed vacation.<\/p>\n \u201cBut she ended up with a manic person who was saying to her, \u2018Hold my hand as I fall apart please\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n In late 2019, Zach was in a bad way. He was losing his singing voice, which is lovely by the way, and suffering from touring burnout.<\/p>\n He says: \u201cActually, the wheels had fallen off long before and I was scraping down the road regardless in a shower of sparks, attempting to get things to work.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always had this very off-and-on, touch-and-go relationship with touring. I\u2019d reached the logical end of that story.\u201d<\/p>\n So, Zach disbanded his troupe and resolved never to go on the road again.<\/p>\n Aside from occasional shows rooted in one place, like the two scheduled for his adopted hometown of Berlin next year, stage appearances in future will be few and far between.<\/p>\n Zach says: \u201cThe voice went because I was sick and I was sick constantly because my body was looking for the lever to pull that would get me to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n He believes his problems date back to childhood when, during the day, the hectic nature of family life stressed him out.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly at night did the noise disappear and I was left to my own devices,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n \u201cSo there was something about the dark and something about winter that attracted me.\u201d<\/p>\n Thus began the Google Maps search that led Zach beyond the Arctic Circle to a cold place with endless nights.<\/p>\n He\u2019d been tipped off about the spectacular Lofoten peninsular, just south of Hadsel, but avoided it because \u201ctourism is an issue\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI found somewhere that seemed quiet but had the same views as far as I could tell,\u201d he reports.<\/p>\n Exposed to the elements and the wildlife, Zach could at last embrace the solitude and natural beauty he craved.<\/p>\n \u201cI was there during an arctic hurricane,\u201d he tells me. \u201cI couldn\u2019t help thinking, \u2018Is this house going to hold?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cBut I took comfort from the fact that they\u2019ve been building there since the Iron Age and they know what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n On another occasion, Zach saw what he calls a moose. (Northern Europeans tend to say elk).<\/p>\n \u201cI was walking with a flashlight and I remember seeing these two eyes. They were quite far apart and taller than me.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also saw otters, sea eagles and seals and we saw whale fins out in the water.\u201d<\/p>\n Zach says the area has no pine forests but \u201cvery gnarled and twisted dwarf birches which barely get above 9ft tall\u201d.<\/p>\n On his first visit, he stayed in Hadsel from early January until early March 2020, returning to Berlin just before the Covid lockdowns kicked in.<\/p>\n Back home in the German capital, he set about turning the music he\u2019d recorded in Norway into a coherent album.<\/p>\n Even though there\u2019s a euphoric vibe to the organ music he\u2019d composed, his mood had darkened when he was away from the far north.<\/p>\n Zach continues: \u201cThen Covid came around and I got really isolated.<\/p>\n \u201cI hit a hopeless patch when I was doing the vocals so the lyrics turned out quite dark in places.\u201d Despite yearning to return to Hadsel, the lockdowns prevented him going back for more than two years.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt ridiculous to be stuck in this big city, which was just dead,\u201d he says. \u201cIt felt cruel in a way.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the funny thing is, I felt like I had brought back a mess. I couldn\u2019t see where the album was going.<\/p>\n \u201cI had only one or two clear start-to-finish songs and the rest was just scraps\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009an organ part, a drum machine or whatever.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I just sat down and sculpted it in this very focused, very dark state of mind but, before I knew it, it was really singing.\u201d<\/p>\n I would advise you to give Hadsel a listen from start to finish, such is its cohesive and soul-soothing nature, but highlights include the emphatic title track, the percussive rustle of Arctic Forest and soaring organ showcase, The Tern. As for the singular and remarkable Zach Condon, he says: \u201cI finally got back there for three months last winter and for another three months this summer.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m actually spending so much time in Hadsel that I might be moving there. I\u2019ve come to love my friends there so much and the community.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a genuine warmth but not this overblown, intense thing that drains you. It\u2019s very sustaining.\u201d<\/p>\n Before we part, I ask if there\u2019s somewhere else in the world he would like to explore in a musical capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a bad fear of flying but I\u2019ve really been obsessed with Uzbekistan lately,\u201d he says of the landlocked former Soviet republic which shares borders with Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and three other countries.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/RB-COMP-K-RICHARDS-1.jpg\")
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<\/picture>'WE MADE A PACT' <\/span><\/p>\nWe\u2019ve gone through so much life together… it\u2019s been tense, say The Kills<\/h3>\n
\u2018Being there put me in this humbled state\u2019<\/h2>\n
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