Vampire Weekend fans have been waiting for the band’s fourth album (possibly titled Mitsubishi Macchiato, but also probably not) for absolutely ages. The follow-up to 2013’s Modern Vampires of the City is the band’s first album for a major label, and is, according to frontman Ezra Koenig, complete. It will be the first Vampire Weekend album since the group’s Rostam Batmanglij left to pursue a career as a solo artist and pop songwriter, although he will contribute to the album in some capacity, and Ariel Rechtshaid, who worked on the group’s last record, is back on board. There’s no release date, but the band did debut a few new songs at a Lollapalooza aftershow. In the meantime, there’s always Neo Yokio.
After a very long rollout, Vampire Weekend have finally released their first new songs since 2013’s great Modern Vampires of the City, “Harmony Hall” and “2021.” They’ve also revealed that the “FOTB” initials for their new album title stand for Father of the Bride. As hinted when he first left the band, this is their first album without Rostam Batmanglij but Rostam did contribute production to the album.
“Harmony Hall” is one of Vampire Weekend’s classic Paul Simon-esque tunes, but a little folkier and more stripped back than we’re used to from VW. It’s got a callback to the “I don’t wanna live like this, but I don’t wanna die” line from “Finger Back,” and it features a Grateful Dead-esque guitar solo from Greg Leisz. “2021” is more of an ambient interlude type song, and it samples Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Haruomi Hosono.
Father of the Bride is an 18-song double album, expected out this year (exact release date TBA), and Ezra Koenig said in a Beats 1 interview with Matt Wilkinson that they’re putting out at least four more songs before its release. He also mentioned that The Internet’s Steve Lacy contributed to the album.
The Fat Angel Sings 