FOR Ezra Koenig, the critical response to Vampire Weekend’s new album has been more than satisfying.
Their fifth album Only God Was Above Us has been met with heaps of praise.
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“I don’t want it to be important to me. But I can’t deny it’s a good feeling to know people have connected with the music and they get it,” says frontman Koenig.
It’s been five years since the band from New York put out Father Of The Bride, essentially a solo record by Koenig.
“It doesn’t feel like five years,” he tells me via a video call from his home in LA.
“Not at all. I was just doing an interview with Rick Rubin for his podcast and we went through our entire career, album by album.
“I remember how much pressure I felt to get Contra out within two years of the first album. Back then it felt like a long time but now, even though I’d like to release music more often, five years feels like nothing.”
Only God Was Above Us is the first album Koenig has written since he became a dad. He and his wife, actress Rashida Jones (daughter of music legend Quincy), had Isaiah five years ago.
“It’s always been important to me to come back to normal life as I don’t like to feel like a full-time musician,” says Koenig.
“With these long breaks, you get a chance to go back into regular life and being a parent is the ultimate regular life.
“You’re engaging in family life and responsibility. This will be an interesting year because I haven’t toured much since he was a baby.
“But, even back in the day, if I got home from tour, I’d be back to the laundromat or the supermarket to feel like I was connecting with real life again.
“But even that’s not quite as real as waking up early the next morning to drive to school.
“Our son is aware of what Mum and Dad do. My wife has done voices on some kids’ shows. There’s a cartoon of the Grinch where she does a voice and he got really obsessed with that for a while.
“And part of the reason the album took a long time is there were long periods where I’d go with my family to London and Tokyo, because Rashida had work in those places.
“I feel like I’ve really defeated my workaholism. Now, when I have time off, I really want to hang out with my family, and take long walks and read rather than lock myself in the studio.”
I feel like I’ve really defeated my workaholism
Koenig
Sonically, the new album is “dark and light” and the “most aggressive record Vampire Weekend have made”.
But Koenig says: “This album contains some of our most positive messages and my most optimistic worldview as a lyricist.”
The contrast can be heard on album opener Ice Cream Piano which begins with a muttered “f*** the world” before it transitions into a galloping indie romp.
The record finishes with the eight-minute epic Hope with its gentle message of acceptance and repeated refrain of “let it go” delivered with warming brass lines and a piano riff. It’s a heavenly album.
Koenig says: “I love having the dark and light together not because I like to be a smart ass but because I believe that’s the real texture of life. That’s what being human really feels like.”
The album is like a journey from a kind of uneasy attitude towards a type of acceptance and hope.
As a staunch supporter of US leftwinger Bernie Sanders during both his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, how does Koenig feel about the possible return of Trump as President?
‘Lot of admiration’
He says: “It’s nothing but chaos but whatever happens it’s about accepting the things you cannot change.
“I’ve never been in AA, but I know people who are and have a lot of admiration for it and I think whether you’re an alcoholic or not the Serenity Prayer can be very meaningful to all people.
“So many people on this planet have been through so many things and we have thousands of years of human history to take inspiration from.”
Father Of The Bride, Vampire Weekend’s 2019 album, was essentially a solo record by Koenig.
But for this new release drummer Chris Tomson and bassist Chris Baio are back on board, again working with producer Ariel Rechtshaid.
The singer tells me: “This album is the first time CT and I have a song, Gen-X Cops, we wrote together on it.
This album contains some of our most positive messages and my most optimistic worldview as a lyricist
Koenig
“Over the course of the band, I’ve been lucky that I’ve received a huge vote of confidence from both Chrises.
They trust me, as a songwriter and as a leader to take the band to good places.
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“That stuff’s not always easy when you’re in your 20s. Famously, so many bands have personality conflicts, but I think we’ve reached a place where they have put their faith in me and I’ve put my faith in them.
“Over the course of five albums, we’ve done it so many ways.
“We’ve done four guys in a room; the singer and the producer hunched over a laptop, I did that with Rostam Batmanglij and I did it with Ariel.
“Vampire Weekend is always going to be a community and it’s not just three of us. It’s the live members and the team we work with including producers.”
The Surfer is another album standout that Koenig had originally worked on with former band multi-instrumentalist and producer Rostam.
We have thousands of years of human history to take inspiration from
Koenig
“Yes, that was one that Rostam and I started a long time ago and it was pretty different,” says Koenig. “The album version was more like Ariel and I working on new music.
“I’d never quite found the right place for it on an album, but I found myself returning to the lyrics I’d written and it was suddenly darker and slower and took on a life of its own. That song was kind of reborn.”
On the harmonious Prep School Gangsters — inspired by a New York magazine cover story from the 90s — Blood Orange aka Dev Hynes plays drums. Koenig is a huge fan.
He says: “I’ve just always loved Dev, he’s a great person to talk to. Whenever we’re in the same city, we love to hang out and catch up.
Psychedelic playfulness
“This time, me and Ariel were working in New York and Dev stopped by. He’d just broken his arm playing football and had a cast on. So, he played on the album with his broken arm.”
New single Mary Boone is another Vampire Weekend classic which celebrates the legendary New York art gallery owner with a psychedelic playfulness and shuffling percussion lifted by a sample of the drum loop from Soul II Soul’s Back To Life
“That sample was Ariel’s idea,” explains Koenig. “And when it comes in, it’s 100 per cent worth it and we’re lucky we were able to clear it.
“A big part of what Vampire Weekend does is push our music as far as it can, while having a sense of familiarity. That’s the frequency we’re trying to operate on.”
Since making Only God Was Above Us, which comes from a New York Daily News headline on the album’s cover, Koenig says he’s only concentrating on Vampire Weekend.
A big part of what Vampire Weekend does is push our music as far as it can, while having a sense of familiarity
Koenig
Past extracurricular activities have included creating an animated series for Netflix, Neo Yokio, and writing and producing songs for Beyonce, Liam Gallagher and — for the Peter Rabbit soundtrack — James Corden.
But he says: “Lately, I feel mostly excited about continuing to work on my albums but I enjoy working and writing for others.
“Liam was a great experience and I could listen to him talk forever. He’s such a funny guy.”
After two years of not touring, Koenig has been enjoying getting back on stage and played a special show in Texas to celebrate the solar eclipse — also the day of his 40th birthday — plus a “last-minute addition” to the Coachella line-up where Paris Hilton joined them for the end of their set.
“Playing a release show in Texas and then Coachella was a good week. It felt like our community coming together,” says Koenig.
“Seven years ago, at the last total eclipse, I’d made a mental note that the next one was coming and it was my 40th birthday.
“We’d booked the show and because it was a show in the day it meant I could enjoy myself with my family and friends. You don’t want to party at midnight when you’re 40!”
Vampire Weekend will be in the UK touring in December but before that you can see them at Radio 1’s Big Weekend on Sunday, May 26, at Luton’s Stockwood Park.
Koenig says: “We can’t wait. And it’s funny it’s in Luton, because I just went there for the first time in February — I went to see a Luton match.
I feel mostly excited about continuing to work on my albums but I enjoy working and writing for other
Koenig
“My manager is involved with the team so we got to meet some of the players and we had a great time. Harry Styles was also there.
“We can’t wait to play London in December as well as we’re doing four different shows which also gives us a nice opportunity to switch things up. It’s been fun to rehearse the new album and breathe some more life into it and at the same time go back to some of the old songs.
“With Vampire Weekend there’s no rules. We just want to get out there and everyone go wild with us.”
Read more on the Irish Sun
- Only God Was Above Us is out now. Vampire Weekend play Radio 1’s Big Weekend on Sunday, May 26.
VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Only God Was Above Us
