Return of the vampires! This Is Not A Drill: New Music From Vampire Weekend Has Me Shook article by Sydney McBee illustration of Ezra Koenig making pancakes by Jon Bordas
In
order to write this review of Vampire Weekend’s four recently released singles, I felt as if I needed to listen to the songs on repeat to accurately write about them. I’ve never been one to listen to songs on repeat, and they almost always end up annoying me if I do. However, in "forcing” myself to listen to these songs on loop, they became more and more enjoyable and really just felt like revisiting an old friend. Vampire Weekend and I go way back (not too far back because I’ve only been alive for twenty years). At first listen I could tell that these songs were not only not all produced by the same
person, but also a little more produced than their older songs. “Harmony Hall” is one half of the first pair of singles released off of the new album Father of the Bride, due for release May 3rd of this year. It is certainly a pop song, but is five minutes long. It features Vampire Weekend’s signature acoustic guitar, piano, and text painting. Text painting is a technique where the musical composition and the lyrics of the song parallel each other; for example, ascending notes for lyrics about ascension, or if the music sounds sad so are the lyrics—sometimes this can mean creatively translating word choices into their sonic doppelgangers. One particular lyric that caught me off guard was “I don’t wanna live like this, but I don’t wanna die”, a nod to “Finger Back,” a song off of their previous album Modern Vampires of the City. I immediately found myself singing along to the nostalgia and fun new lyrics. The other song released alongside “Harmony Hall” was “2021.” This song was lyrically hard to understand for me, but I love the producers’ take on a song for this band. This short song seemed futuristic (hence the title) and was very pleasant to listen to. I love the vocal modulators during Ezra’s hums and during the word “boy” that Jenny Lewis does. Overall, this song is calm but somehow still moves somewhere in the time allotted for it on the album. “Big Blue,” the first song I listened to during the second release of songs, was very repetitive, but also very easy to listen to. This song showcased Ezra’s iconic voice and finished in just under two minutes. This was probably my least favorite of the four songs released. “Sunflower” might just be my favorite of the new releases. This song is so catchy, and I love the vocal runs that Ezra and featured artist Steve Lacy perform twice in the song. I can imagine myself listening to this song in
summer with my windows down and singing at the top of my lungs. In early April, two more songs were released. “This Life” is a very upbeat song that gets stuck in my head quite often. It has some classic Vampire Weekend sounds, and is very repetitive. I think this song is good but isn’t my favorite. One interesting thing that I would like to point out is the fade out at the end of the song. Not only did I think it was too fast, I also thought it was too 2000s. Who knows, maybe laziness is what they were going for! “Unbearably White” is my second favorite song out of the six for sure. I’m deeply in love with these lyrics although I do not claim to know what they mean at all. I love the instrument choices in this song and the use of both vocal registers. This song is so comfortable to listen to and I think it will become a classic amongst the band’s listeners. It has a fadeout too, but somehow it doesn’t bother me as much because it makes sense in context. All in all, I’m wildly excited to see what’s in store for Vampire Weekend, to say the least. Their songs are becoming more and more complicated and the fact that they are releasing a double album has me patiently waiting with bated breath to get my ears on it. Each one of these songs are very different from each other in their own specific ways. Some have bass, some have piano, some have guitar, but not necessarily all together at once—which is very different from many bands who get stuck writing with the same instruments. I wonder how this album will come together, because I feel like their other albums have similar feelings in every song on the album. I think this one will be different, and I like different when the musicians are this good.
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