Everything We Know About Vampire Weekend’s Fourth Album
It's been nearly six years (yes, you read that right: SIX. YEARS.) since Vampire Weekend dropped their third studio album, Modern Vampires of the City, and fans have been waiting as patiently as possible for Ezra Koenig and company to release its followup.
Back in August, the frontman got fans excited when he announced that the album was finished during the band's Lollapalooza set, but nearly six months passed and we still didn't have an album to play on repeat.
However, on January 17, Koenig gave fans an in-depth update on the album's status, indicating we won't have to wait too much longer to hear it. And today (January 24), the band shared two songs off the project. As we wait eagerly for more material, here's everything we know about Vampire Weekend's fourth album.
- 1
The first two songs are "Harmony Hall" and "2021"
When Ezra gave us the album update, he said the band would be releasing two songs the following week: "hh/2021." Today, they lived up to that promise by releasing "Harmony Hall" and "2021"—their first new music since 2013's Modern Vampires of the City.
- 2
Its title is Father of the Bride
As Ezra admitted in his update, VW has made a tradition of abbreviating the titles of their albums, and this one's called FOTB. He gave fans a week to take a stab at what it could be called (and even offered prizes to those who guessed right). People guessed everything from "Father of the Baby" to "Frappuccino on the Beach." (Although the second one seems a little out of left field, it's really not. The album's working title was Mitsubishi Macchiato after all.)
When they released "Harmony Hall" and "2021," VW also confirmed the title of the album: Father of the Bride.
- 3
It's their first album without Rostam Batmanglij
On January 26, 2016, Rostam Batmanglij announced that he was leaving Vampire Weekend to pursue solo endeavors. The multi-instrumentalist was not only one of the band's founding members back in 2006, but also had a hand in producing each of the first three albums.
Even though he's no longer a member of the band, Rostam noted that he and Ezra would continue collaborating on projects together, including VW songs, so there's a very good chance that he worked on this album.
- 4
It will be a double album
In his update, Ezra reveals that the album will comprise 18 tracks, which he confesses is "a lot of songs but they all belong there." Father of the Bride will be released as a double record and will clock in at 59 minutes.
- 5
The album's release may have been affected by Ezra becoming a father
Last summer, Ezra and his girlfriend Rashida Jones welcomed their first child. Their baby boy, Isaiah Jones Koenig, was born on August 22, 2018, only no one really knew the couple was together, let alone expecting a baby.
Regardless of the secrecy surrounding their relationship, Rashida's pregnancy was bound to have an affect on the album release. (Sadly, the couple has yet to share a picture of Isaiah. We can't wait to see him!)
- 6
It should be coming out this Spring
While discussing the album's rollout, Ezra explained there "will be three 2-song drops every month until the record is out," which means Father of the Bride should be coming out sometime in March or April. He also gave the abbreviations for each batch: "1. hh/2021 2. s/bb 3. tl/uw." with the caveat that "plans can change, that’s the plan."
So far, the rollout has gone according to plan, with "Harmony Hall" and "2021" coming out this week.