In a recent newsletter, Vampire Weekend drummer Chris Tomson revealed that the band’s fifth album of 10 songs will be announced by the end of the year, and it’s unlike anything they’ve done before.
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Vampire Weekend is known for their charting singles like, “A-Punk” “This Life” and “Campus,” all with a unique balance of Alternative and choral inspiration. And while the band hasn’t released any new songs since their 2019 comeback album Father of the Bride, they recently started a fan-focused vinyl club. Called Frog on the Bass Drum, the club released a live LP of the band performing in June 2019, which was packaged with a newsletter. In that letter, Vampire Weekend drummer Chris Tomson spoke to fans directly about what the members have been up to. Tomson himself is celebrating the birth of his children with wife Emily, and his new sobriety. Bassist Chris Baio apparently served jury duty with, “a renowned actress’ husband.”
But perhaps the most interesting antidote was about lead singer and songwriter Ezra Koenig. “Ezra took a raga singing lesson with Terry Riley in rural Japan and wrote what he considers to be 7 of his all-time top 10 best songs,” Tomson wrote.
For those who don’t know, raga singing is common in Japanese and Indian cultures as a kind of melody. Ragas are full of improvisation, embellishments, and microtonal notes (or most simply, pitches that exist in between the keys on a piano). Ezra will undoubtedly bring this influence into the next Vampire Weekend album, and it’s highly likely that his number, “7 of his all-time top 10 best songs” will be on the album as well.
Tomson also gave a peek into their creative process overall, saying that being able, “to connect, jawbone, and jam” reminded the band of their college days. “I personally found an immense peace and pleasure from creating with the guys like we had in the Ruggles days,” he wrote. “The vibe was strong.” And to sign off the newsletter, he wrote a short P.S. “LP5 news by the end of the year,” the drummer revealed. “It’s close to done and I feel like it just might be our best yet. 10 songs, no skips.”
Considering each of their previous albums were nominated, or won, the GRAMMY Award for Best Alternative Music Album in their respective years, an even better album seems like quite the promise. One thing’s for certain- Vampire Weekend fans now just want to know, “How long, how long?” Until then, be sure to stream Vampire Weekend Radio on the free Audacy app!
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