Ezra Koenig just announced information about Vampire Weekend’s new album, and I am currently having a heart attack, just in case you were wondering.
There has been little noise from the VW since their last album was released in 2014, except for the departure of band member Rostam Batmanglij in January 2016. This shakeup caused many fans (including myself) to question the band’s future, even though Koenig promised more music would come.
Now that Koenig has confirmed the new album via an Instagram post of a computer file entitled “mitsubishi macchiato,” which he notes is the working title (because who would expect anything less from that man). Now I can officially wait in agony for its release because at least now I know it’s real.
The post described the upcoming work as “a lil more springtime” than Modern Vampires of the City, their 2014 release. He also divulged the titles of two songs which are currently called “Conversation” and “Flower Moon.” It’s impossible to tell what the new music will actually sound like from some cryptic words in a social media caption, but I am already picturing Japanese-Italian fusion (i.e. sharp and sweet) with some early Passion Pit mixed up in coffee-shop-rock. Saying that it will be more “springtime” also alludes to earlier music like “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and “Ladies of Cambridge”: more bouncy and lively, while maintaining soft undertones, like flowers blooming and the sun shining.
Koenig’s post was a lot of explanation about why the new music has taken so “long,” writing, “We gotta take our time & get it right,” and, “I know it feels like it’s been an eternity since the last one but time…is strange.” Part of me feels guilty for needing them to produce new music because it must be so hard to do and also because it’s not like they’ve taken a hiatus or anything. It’s only been a few years since their last release, which was impossibly perfect, but it’s doubtful that they can put out anything bad (considering that every album only really includes one “bad” song and even those aren’t necessarily terrible).
The last thing Koenig writes in his post is, “I can’t tell you the really good stuff anyway.” So now I am SCREAMING because WHAT IS THE GOOD STUFF?! THIS IS ALREADY SO GOOD?!!! Needless to say I am hyped and this has given my life new meaning. At this, you are probably thinking, “You needed a musician’s Instagram to give you validation in life?” And to that I respond, “Obviously.”
