Vampire Weekend share two new songs, ‘Capricorn’ and ‘Gen-X Cops’
Indie legends Vampire Weekend have released two songs, ‘Capricorn’ and ‘Gen-X Cops’, taken from their upcoming album, Only God Was Above Us.
The band recently announced their fifth album, which is set for release on April 5th. It comes five years after their previous record, Father of the Bride. The new songs possess a distinctive progression from their previous work, but their signature charm is still evident. On ‘Gen-X Cops’, a piano solo brings the song together in its final third while lead singer Ezra Koenig experiments with autotune.
Meanwhile, ‘Capricorn’ weaves in and out of repetitive instrumentation, often quietening for certain verses to allow Koenig’s voice to take precedence, with a simple acoustic guitar or percussive rhythm providing the backdrop.
Discussing Only God Was Above Us, the band revealed that it is “inspired and haunted by 20th Century New York City.” Most of the lyrics were written by Koenig several years before laying the tracks down in the studio.
Koenig has produced the record alongside Ariel Rechtshaid, with Emily Lazar and Dave Fridmann on mastering and mixing duties, respectively. Recording took place in Manhattan, London, Tokyo and Los Angeles.
The singer said of the new album: “This record, as most of our records do, took a while to make but that’s because we like to take time off in between and think about what we’re doing. I’m very excited about it. It was recorded all over the world – London, Tokyo, New York, LA, which was fun for us. It’s definitely getting into some new territory for us, it feels like Vampire Weekend but you’re hearing some tones and some vibes that we’ve never really explored. It’s been a lot of fun mixing some new sounds in.”
Koenig added of ‘Capricorn’: “It’s not about one specific Capricorn in my life… it’s talking about Capricorn as the person who’s born at the end of the year and then immediately a new year starts. The lyric is ‘Capricorn, the year that you were born finished fast and the next one wasn’t yours.’ Whether it’s about a Capricorn specifically or anybody who feels like they missed a moment or didn’t get in on the ground floor, that’s the vibe of the song.”
To promote the album, the band – now a trio since the departure of Rostam Batmanglij in 2016 – will embark on a tour, although they have only announced a few dates so far, including a performance at Austin’s Moody Amphitheatre. Vampire Weekend will also be coming to Europe in June to playPrimavera Sound in Barcelona.
The new songs, ‘Capricorn’ and ‘Gen-X Cops’, have each been accompanied by music videos. Watch them both below.
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