When Lorde said “please could you be tender” in her song ‘Hard Feelings’, Ezra Koenig and the Chris’ said yes Ella we can, and then they went and made this album.
After waiting the lifetime of a small child for their fourth album, expectations were high. Vampire Weekend somehow managed to exceed and subvert and reconfigure expectation all at once with this album.
The band shed their “preppy” skin which defined the eras of the first three albums, as this time round they have traded it in for a distinctive LA vibe.
Joined with on some tracks with Danielle Haim of HAIM fame, songs like ‘Hold You Now’ and ‘Married In A Gold Rush’ lean into the whole ‘bridal’ motif of the album.
Parts of it feel almost country-esque and distinctly different from their prior work. This is less so in the sound of the music but in the conversational dialogue that passes between Koenig and Haim.
You become wrapped up in the storytelling, it’s like they are narrating their own Nora Ephron movie.
By the end of the album you’re left with a warm feeling, a certain tenderness that only Vampire Weekend could whip up.
Image: Moses via Flickr