Vampire Weekend set to release new album ‘Father of the Bride’
by Melanie Snyder ’19, Sports Editor
Vampire Weekend’s fourth studio album Father of the Bride is set to be released Friday, May 3, though the group has already released four new songs off of the album over the course of the last two months as part of a preview period.
The group’s last album, Modern Vampires of the City, was released over five years ago in 2013, and quiet reports of potential new music have been circulating since early last year. The early-released music is therefore likely a means of holding fans over for early part of this year until the final product is finished. “Harmony Hall,” “2021,” “Sunflower,” and “Big Blue” just scratch the surface of the 18 total tracks expected on the new album.
Five years is a long time to wait for a band to release new music, especially when the artists in question only have three official albums to begin with, offering a mere 33 tracks in total (but who’s counting) plus several deep tracks to listen to for five years.
That being said, excitement levels and expectations are predictably high among loyal Vampire Weekend fans and casual listeners alike. There is sometimes apprehension among fans of any music group that a group’s new music will not have the same “sound” as their past works.
“Harmony Hall,” released on Jan. 24., totally alleviated any of this concern that Vampire Weekend’s new music might stray too far away from their established and beloved sound. Upon hearing the song’s upbeat tempo, lively piano and guitar licks, coupled with Ezra Koenig’s consistent and familiar vocals, the group is instantly recognizable.
At the same time, the piece is by no means a regurgitation of any earlier works and offers plenty of uniqueness, particularly in the nuances in the instrumental arrangements. The lyrics, in the spirit of song writer Koenig’s love of ambiguity, are not discernable in terms of a simple “meaning,” though there seems to be something political going on. One of the lyrics, for example, says, “Singers harmonize ’til they can’t hear anything,” reminiscent of the concept of “echo chambers,” which describes the way in which news outlets and social media can contribute to divided partisan politics. The title of the song also points to this general idea.
“2021” was released at the same time as “Harmony Hall,” the former a foil to the latter. “Harmony Hall” producing the same cheery mood reminiscent of the groups very first album, “Vampire Weekend.” “2021,” a shorter piece with a runtime of 1:38 and consists of a much slower pace and somber mood in the vein of the group’s song “Modern Vampires of the City.” A song like “2021” differs from “Harmony Hall” in that it is not meant to be sung along to or turned up in the car and enjoyed. Instead, it feels like something Koenig incorporated into the mix as a moment of calm for pause and contemplation. Even the lyrics speak to this: “2021 will you think about me?” This sentiment is not meant to be definitively judged as “good” or “bad” but is rather a connecting moment in the album — one part of a larger whole.
“Big Blue,” released on March 6, follows this same pattern set forth in “2021.” A shorter song again at only 1:48, the tone is slightly more optimistic lyric-wise but accompanied by a slower tempo; it is overarchingly a more serious and solemn piece. The slide guitar takes center stage in the song, standing out the most, especially as it slightly unexpected and not commonly used in the band’s songs. This is also true of the faint choir vocals in the background.
“Big blue, for once in my life I feel close to you,” is possibly the most ambiguous lyric of Koenig’s among the new releases and there is no hint whatsoever as so what “big blue” refers to, although I wouldn’t be surprised to find it explained in future tracks once the rest of the album is released.
Finally, “Sunflower,” features drums and guitar almost exclusively, along with vocals and female vocal harmonies. The song offers the more upbeat rhythms once more and even comes across as mock-jazzy with the incorporation of flowing scales and scat-like vocals. It is certainly unlike what group has produced in the past with the absence of any piano at all
As in “Sunflower,” and even the three other pre-album pieces, it seems that the fundamental difference between the group’s new music is the change in band membership, which comes
through in their new and more mature sound. The group’s keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij departed the band in 2016 to pursue a soloist career, and it shows. Batmanglij contributed the distinctively classical sound to early Vampire Weekend songs that allowed the group to take on the genre of baroque-pop. “Harmony Hall” feels like an attempt to keep this keyboard style spirit alive, but it and the rest of the pieces are undeniably more poppy than classical or baroque. While Batmanglij claims to still be collaborating with Koenig as a co-song writer, the band that once thrived as a four-piece has more or less become a three-piece by offering only guitar, drums and bass in their new music. I would personally like to see more of Chris Tomson’s drumming come through in the rest of the album tracks, as the drum parts are somewhat veiled in the four new songs. Hopefully the classical motifs and piano will return in the rest of the album as well, though there is no promise of this.
The final pre-album songs are set to be released on Thursday, April 4.
