Beirut

Kristianna Smith

Beirut mastermind Zach Condon's songs certainly have a global flair, but why would a young man from Santa Fe, New Mexico name his latest musical project after a Lebanese city he'd never even seen?

Turns out he was intent on naming his project after a foreign city and Beirut was one in a series of international names he considered -- Bilbao and Pompeii being among them. But the intensity and history of the Lebanese capital was something he hoped would properly represent his music.