Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig has excited fans by revealing a whole bunch of new info about the group’s upcoming record.
For quite a while now, fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of Vampire Weekend’s first album in six years, Father Of The Bride.
Releasing in early May, the band have been teasing us with a few new songs each month, adding in a new music video, a Post Malone cover, and even a version of a Paul Simon classic in London.
Now, as we get ever-closer to the new record’s release date, frontman Ezra Koenig has spoken to the Sunday Times about what else fans can expect from the new album.
Throughout the interview, Koenig touched on the contents of a few songs, noting that album opener ‘Hold You Now’ is a folk-influenced song that includes a sample from Hans Zimmer’s score for The Thin Red Line.
Meanwhile, a few songs on the record see the band revisiting their collaboration with Danielle Haim, with the HAIM vocalist appearing on a handful of tracks.
Likewise, lyrical content sees the group getting a bit political at times, with album closer ‘Jerusalem, New York, Berlin’ serving as a way for Ezra Koenig to address his Jewish identity against the backdrop of US/Palestine relations.
Despite this, Koenig is apprehensive to offer much more information, with the writer of the piece noting the singer “feels strongly that fans should hear the new music before he offers context.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Ezra Koenig also turned his attention to that of US Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders.
“I like to believe he’s less of a sociopath than a lot of people who want to be president, but it’s hard to be as excited as I was in 2016,” Koenig explained.
“I also subscribe to the brief that Trump doesn’t represent an upheaval so much as a moment of clarity about the way things have always been. Which isn’t to say there aren’t uniquely horrifying things happening, but there were under every administration.”
While Vampire Weekend are set to release Father Of The Bride on May 3rd, Koenig revealed on Instagram recently that the album’s final two singles are set for release this week.
Titled ‘TL’ and ‘UL’ after their initials, Koenig says he’s ready for the record to finally be heard as a whole. “I kinda love this two songs at a time thing but ultimately it’s meant to be heard as an album,” he explained.
Check out Vampire Weekend’s ‘Sunflower’
