Vampire Weekend’s Sunflower and Big Blue
Following the agonizing six-year gap since indie outfit Vampire Weekend last released new music, in January frontman Ezra Koenig announced the band would start releasing singles from their forthcoming record Father of the Bride in pairs, once a month. January saw the release of ‘Harmony Hall’ and ‘2021’, and though they did not end up releasing anything in February, the band finally released another two new tracks on their Twitter page: ‘Sunflower’ and ‘Big Blue’. These tracks mark a continued stray from the slightly afro-influenced sound the band became known for in their earlier work, as well as the first Vampire Weekend to not include former guitarist Rostam Batmanglij who departed the band in 2016 (though the band has confirmed they continued to collaborate with him throughout the production of the album.)
‘Sunflower’ is a short song with slick guitar licks carrying throughout the track. Featuring multi-instrumentalist Steve Lacy, known better as the guitarist of R&B band The Internet, this is the first Vampire Weekend track to feature someone outside the band. Acknowledging the collaboration, Koenig said on his Instagram: “shout out to @steve.lacy ! He randomly tweeted at me a few years ago saying we should collaborate. He was right! Sunflower is the first song ever released by VW with a feature and I’m glad it’s Steve. He told me the first song he ever learned on guitar was A-Punk which is hilarious cuz he is now way better at guitar than me. Can’t wait for you to hear his other contributions to FOTB. Also shout out to @djdahi – another album collaborator. He co-produced Big Blue. (This pic is from the set of the Sunflower video directed by @jonahhill – coming soon.)”
‘Big Blue’ on the other hand is a track with little production on the surface, featuring a soft acoustic guitar and a repeating set of lyrics that appear to feature similar themes of religion and uncertainty that were so prevalent on 2013’s Modern Vampires of the City. It’s the shorter of the two tracks, clocking in at just under a minute and a half. It operates as a nice companion piece to Sunflower, though it doesn’t have the benefit of being as memorable or catchy.
Vampire Weekend have also announced tour dates all around the world and confirmed the date of their upcoming release, Father of the Bride, due May 3rd.