Review: Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
Modern Vampires of the City is Vampire Weekend’s third, most cohesive, and best record yet.
Produced by Rostam Batmanglij and Ariel Rechtshaid (Usher, Plain White T’s), you can crank this album up loud or enjoy it at a soft volume. The production on each recording is warm, precise, and inviting.
“Obvious Bicycle”, the album’s modern opener, has impressive texture. In addition, Ezra Koenig’s voice is rich and delightful atop the choir.
I like the album art of Vampire Weekend’s hometown, New York City.
“Step” is gorgeous. The tune includes accented, booming drums; twinkling electronic harpsichord, and sharply observed lyrics. Again, Koenig’s vocals are breathtaking! The refrain—“the gloves are off, the wisdom teeth are out”—is nice, too.
Taking seven years to finish arranging and recording, “Hannah Hunt” just feels right for driving in summertime with the windows down.
On “Young Lion”, the album’s outro lullaby, Rostam sings around a Persian folk music-inspired piano melody: “You take your time / Young lion.”
I really love these lyrics on “Don’t Lie”: “I wanna know, does it bother you? / Low click of a ticking clock / There’s a lifetime right in front of you / And everyone I know.”
Love and mortality are motifs on this record.
“We thought these three albums should look like they belong together on a bookshelf,” said Rostam Batmanglij. “We realized that there are things connecting the songs across three albums, like an invisible hand was guiding us. It does feel like we’ve been able to create three distinct worlds for each album, and yet have them be interconnected.”
Described as the culmination of a trilogy, Modern Vampires of the City truly has something for everyone—young and old.
“Ya Hey”:
Stream and Pre-Order Modern Vampires of the City on iTunes.
Grade: A