Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride (Album Review)
Thursday, 09 May 2019
Written by Milly McMahon
‘Father of the Bride’, the fourth album by Vampire Weekend, reinstates the New Yorkers as kings of cult indie. A quintessential millennial act, alternately brimming with metaphorical nonsense and intensely philosophical lyrical content, they have again worked to build diligent music for easy listening.
On their first album in six years, and first since the exit of multi-instrumentalist and producer Rostam Batmanglij, Ezra Koening, Chris Tomson and Chris Baio channel their baroque, acoustic aesthetic with as much grandiose irony as their early records.
Married in a Gold Rush is perhaps the most impressive track of the album’s 18 and features Danielle Haim, who is an overarching presence throughout. Collaborating on the opening track, Hold You Now, and We Belong Together, Haim’s harmonies are exquisite.
Such is the vibe on the entirety of the album, though. Guests Steve Lacy, Mark Ronson, Dave and Jake Longstreth, BloodPop, DJ Dahi, and Rostam also feature sporadically, and the feeling is of effortless flow. Moving seamlessly, with understated finesse, each song exudes charm, sashaying organically from mood to mood.
A more experimentally-led body of work, ‘Father of the Bride’ nevertheless retains its sense of fun. Sympathy opens with a sample: “I think I take myself too serious, it’s not that serious.” Playful instrumentals duel, thrashing out contrasting internal dialogues.
Producer Ariel Rechtshaid’s profound influence in shaping the direction of the album can be seen regularly. Famous for adding depth, originality and left field effects to a wide variety of sounds, he has amped up the volume on Vampire Weekend’s most accomplished textures and qualities.
The trio’s dawn chorus-like optimism, tinged with the melancholy of good times past, stains the music like the well-thumbed page of a much-loved book. The familiarity of ambient percussion and light bass solos bob the listener’s head as we journey through the band’s sometimes nonsensical, rose-tinted reality. Nothing else in modern music sounds quite like Vampire Weekend.
Vampire Weekend Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Mon July 01 2019 - DUBLIN Trinity College
Thu November 07 2019 - EDINBURGH Usher Hall
Fri November 08 2019 - MANCHESTER O2 Victoria Warehouse Manchester
Sat November 09 2019 - MANCHESTER O2 Victoria Warehouse Manchester
Mon November 11 2019 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy Birmingham
Wed November 13 2019 - LONDON Alexandra Palace
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