Vampire Weekend are rolling out the advance tracks from their new double album two at a time. At the top of this year, Ezra Koenig explained that we were to expect a two-song dispatch once a month until “Father Of The Bride” sees official release this spring. That began last January with “Harmony Hall” and “2021” but February’s planned pair of tracks did not materialize. Koenig told us on Instagram last week, the band “wanted to get it out in February but we were convinced by intelligent people to wait a week to get some ducks in a row.”
So now, a week into March, comes the latest double drop. They’ve also confirmed a March 5th release date for Father Of The Bride and revealed its official cover art.
The ostensible A-side of this latest pairing is “Sunflower” which will soon have a video directed by Jonah Hill at Zabar’s on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. A collaboration with the Internet’s Steve Lacy, it’s billed as “the sibling song” of “Flower Moon” which Vampire Weekend previewed at a show last summer. The other song out today is “Big Blue” which got its first airing at a Lollapalooza .
Father Of The Bride is Vampire Weekend’s first album in a whopping six years. Their last release was 2013’s masterful Modern Vampires Of The City. A lot has happened since then, including the departure of founding member Rostam Batmanglij, though he was still involved with the creation of Father Of The Bride.
The Fat Angel Sings 