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The fifth album by Vampire Weekend, titled Only God Was Above Us, takes on a foreboding outlook. Frontman and songwriter Ezra Koenig sings about curses, lost opportunities and hypothetical conflicts over the band’s edgiest and loudest production yet. The themes reflect the uncertain times we live in and the fear of how future generations will remember this turbulent era. Some may see this as a follow-up to the band’s 2013 release, Modern Vampires of the City, but Koenig intends for the album to leave listeners with a glimmer of hope.
“In my opinion, when fatalism is taken to its ultimate extent, it becomes a form of optimism. Some of the most joyful individuals in the world possess an attitude of both surrender and acceptance,” he explains. “There’s one type of fatalism that sees the chaotic nature of the world as a negative thing, and another type of optimism that recognizes this chaos and embraces it, just like surfing a wave.”
The thought process is reminiscent of Koenig’s style: simultaneously carefully ambiguous and slyly casual, delivered with sincerity and contemplation. It’s a delicate balancing act that spills over into Only God Was Above Us, which revisits the elegant elements of Vampire Weekend’s early records – with intricately arranged instrumentation including luscious upright bass, dizzying saxophone solos, and cascading piano melodies – yet remains distinctly unlike anything the group has previously produced.
The album has a tense and almost violent tone, according to Koenig. He acknowledges that it is aesthetically darker and more aggressive than their previous record, Father of the Bride, which was shaggy and maximalist. Swapping the album covers could change how people perceive the sound, but Koenig believes listeners may need to categorize the albums in a binary manner.
In February, Koenig and I will be getting together just a few days before the highly anticipated new album is revealed. While sitting in a photo studio in central London, he appears almost the same as when he was promoting Father of the Bride. However, his style has evolved to match the changes in his music, trading in his brightly colored fleece and socks with sandals for a khaki sweater and sand-toned slacks – possibly influenced by his upcoming 40th birthday.
Ageing certainly influenced the restless, if hopeful, spirit of Only God Was Above Us. “When I was younger, I was maybe a little arrogant, waiting for life to show me what was so good about it – and then I was like: ‘Oh right, every person has an ability to love life,’” he says. “It’s exactly the type of idea that would make my eyes roll out of my head when I was a sullen teenager or in my late 20s, wrestling with the point of all this.”
It’s a marked change from his band’s early years, when they were praised for distilling big ideas about existence and mortality into catchy, richly produced pop songs. Emerging in the mid-00s as part of a wave of indie bands that included MGMT and Animal Collective, Vampire Weekend quickly ascended to festival headliner status, thanks in no small part to their prodigious songwriting ability and Koenig’s own sense of ambition.
“At the beginning of our band’s journey, I was fixated on releasing our second album, Contra, in 2010. I believed it was crucial for us to put out consecutive albums, even though it was a rushed process. It was a rare chance we had and it created a strong sense of urgency. However, keeping up that pace and intensity would eventually lead to burnout for anyone. Then, you start questioning the purpose of it all – what is the message behind the music if that’s all we’re doing?”
In the past five years, Koenig shifted his focus away from music after releasing Father of the Bride. In 2018, he and his wife Rashida Jones, who is an actor, welcomed a baby. He took time off from touring the album to live in Tokyo and London, besides their home in Los Angeles, while Jones worked on film projects. He was relieved to have a break from the busy promotion of the record. He did write and record some parts of Only God Was Above Us during this time, but it wasn’t for the sake of recording in glamorous locations.
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“Residing in various locations may seem exciting, but for someone who is relocating with their family while their spouse works long days and their child attends school, there can also be a sense of loneliness,” he explains. During this quieter time, he mentions that “ideas were able to naturally come to mind” without any outside influence. “I enjoy engaging in mundane activities like going for walks, spending time alone to read, and taking my child to school in the morning and discussing our surroundings during the commute. This is my preferred way of living.”
“I recently released Only God Was Above Us, my first album since becoming a parent. Has fatherhood affected my approach to songwriting or my career? The simple answer is no,” Koenig explains with a shy smile. However, the album does carry a hopeful tone which is partially influenced by a sense of responsibility towards the next generation. “The future is uncertain and beyond their control,” he says. “At times, you hear people express concern about certain aspects of the world and how it will impact their children’s upbringing. Then it hits you, what can you offer a child but a mindset to fully embrace life?”
The current political climate in the US is extremely divisive, making the idea mentioned necessary. During both the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, Koenig passionately supported Bernie Sanders and even performed at some of his rallies. Looking back at the 2020 campaign, Koenig admits that it may have seemed unlikely for Sanders to win, but he still felt it was the right thing to do at the time. When asked about the possibility of Sanders’ policies, like universal healthcare, being brought up again in this year’s election, Koenig remains hopeful but acknowledges that their implementation may not be imminent.
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The artist’s composed manner of discussing politics can be heard in the final track of his album, “Hope.” In this song, he touches on various political conspiracies and failures before ending with a sense of bittersweet acceptance: “Our enemy is undefeated / I hope you can let it go.” He also sees this moment as a source of optimism. In his opinion, politics is overly focused on results, and we are constantly surrounded by the anger and frustration of those who strongly believe in their own perspectives. “Hope” is a call to view hope as something personal, rather than a demand placed on the external world. This is a concept that he has come to understand as he has grown older. He acknowledges that there will always be countless individuals who are disappointed at any given time, perhaps even millions or billions worldwide. By hoping for something specific, disappointment is likely. However, viewing hope as a feeling or idea is much bigger than any specific outcome.
Similarly to how Only God Was Above Us returns to their previous exploration of baroque and distorted sounds on Modern Vampires, it also marks the reunion of Koenig with his bandmates Chris Baio and Chris Tomson. The two toured with the band during the release of Father of the Bride but did not contribute to the record or appear in press photos. Former band member Rostam Batmanglij, who left after Modern Vampires, was involved in the production of the new album, as he was with Father of the Bride, although he is not a formal member of the band. Koenig states that their involvement was not a deliberate decision but rather a natural progression as Vampire Weekend has always been primarily a recording project. He had confidence in their ability to create something interesting and they were willing to wait and remain a part of it.
In hindsight, Koenig is uncertain about whether or not it was wise to release Father of the Bride as a solo project. However, the album ultimately received positive reception and their tour was a success. Koenig still stands by his decision and felt it was the right move to make. He explains that he had a gut feeling that the band’s image as three 30-something men heading into their fourth album may not be as appealing.
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He acknowledges that part of the reason for his actions may have been the lasting effects of the criticism they faced in the band’s early days. Despite the fact that Koenig and Batmanglij, the band’s songwriters, came from working-class Jewish and Iranian backgrounds, they were still attacked by music critics for being perceived as white and upper-class. This led him to present Father of the Bride as a solo project out of a desire to protect himself and the band. He anticipated that this transition would be challenging, given the end of an indie era, the departure of a band member, and the critical success of their previous album. He saw this as a potentially disastrous combination.
Koenig is correct in stating that the music scene that influenced the emergence of Vampire Weekend no longer exists in the same manner. Prominent methods for promoting a band, like indie blogs, have become obsolete, and only a few rock musicians are able to achieve success on the Billboard charts. On a personal level, Koenig no longer feels connected to contemporary indie music. Additionally, he notes that the media is no longer interested in having established bands endorse the potential of up-and-coming artists, as seen when Paul Simon was asked to share his thoughts on Vampire Weekend in 2011. Koenig expresses uncertainty about who currently represents the young equivalent of Vampire Weekend, highlighting the evolution of the band’s context since the release of their album Contra in 2010.
That seems to be as liberating for Koenig as it is unnerving; in Only God Was Above Us it results in a sound that’s richer and more expansive than anything the band have made before, even as it returns to a style they mined deeply on Modern Vampires. “That context is another thing to contend with,” he says. “But ultimately, I surrender to Father Time.”
The release date for Only God Was Above Us is April 5th.
Source: theguardian.com
