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Recently, my neighborhood coffee shop blasted a series of tracks off Vampire Weekend’s 2010 album, Contra, many of which I hadn’t heard in years. I said as much as to the barista who was helping me out, and she instantly jumped at the chance to talk about the New York indie rockers. “I know, right? It’s been forever since they released anything. What gives?”
Today, as though Ezra Koenig had listened in on our conversation that day — I’m based in South Brooklyn, nowhere near what I imagine are his fancy digs, but who knows, he could’ve dropped in — the group’s frontman has shared an interesting update on the next Vampire Weekend album.
(Read: The 50 Most Anticipated Albums of 2017)
According to a post on Instagram, the follow-up to 2013’s excellent Modern Vampires of the City still boasts a working title of Mitsubishi Macchiato, which Koenig had previously mentioned in January 2016, around the time when founding member Rostam Batmanglij announced his departure from the band. Koenig used much of that year to write the LP while also spending “long days in the library researching w/ the grad students.”
While Koenig was hesitant to offer up specifics, he did say that the forthcoming album is “a lil more springtime than the last one” and currently contains two tracks dubbed “Conversation” and “Flower Moon”. He goes on to reassure fans that Vampire Weekend haven’t ditched rock just yet, saying, “guitar’s not dead.” Additionally, there’s a “vibey project” he worked on back in 2015, details of which will supposedly be revealed “soon.”
Check out the full update below.
obviously, we gotta take our time & get it right but the fans deserve some information. I know it feels like it’s been an eternity since the last one but time…is strange. this is what’s been happening:
2013- MVOTC release
2014 – still touring/promoting
2015 – mental health year (putting 3 albums in stores was taxing), worked on a vibey project you’ll hear abt soon
2016- writing LP4, long days in the library researching w/ the grad students
2017 – recording, trying to finish ASAP what else can I tell you without playing myself? hmm, it’s a lil more springtime than the last one. guitar’s not dead. there are songs (currently) called “Conversation” & “Flower Moon.” Flower Moon is hard to finish but I think it belongs on the album. working title is still Mitsubishi Macchiato cuz it is a helpful concept. I should probably stop there cuz all of that information is subject to change & I can’t tell you the really good stuff anyway
Along with the timeline he provided up above, other fun things Koenig’s been up to the last few years include: dating comedian/actress Rashida Jones; becoming a full-time hat guy; rallying on behalf of Bernie Sanders; hanging with actor Jamie Foxx; and constantly upgrading his selfie game.
