Indie rock band Vampire Weekend have released their fourth single with a star studded cast for their track “Sunflower,” which will be featured on their upcoming album Father of the Bride. The music video for “Sunflower,” features famed comedian Jerry Seinfeld taking a tour of New York City’s delicacies, in a music video directed by fellow comedian Jonah Hill.
Other people prominently featured include Ezra Koenig and Steve Lacy of The Internet, who contributed to the track with his signature guitar licks. This track was released earlier this month, featuring an upbeat mood and catchy chord progressions performed by Lacy, one of the most prominent guitar proteges of this generation, on the track.
Since this album will be the first to feature former member Rostam Batmanglij, who was a major part of the group, the band has been venturing into several other directions with their music. This is set to be the band’s first new album in six years, allowing the band time and freedom to grow, and deal with their former bandmates absence while going off into newer directions.
“Time in between albums adds up in a really insane way. It suddenly becomes five years in the blink of an eye,” Koenig explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “Vampire Weekend was never far from my mind and I never went more than a month without actually going to the studio and doing some work. I’ve been working on [the album] full-time for just about two years — which feels crazy, but that’s how long it takes.”
Batmanglij continues to work with Koenig on several side projects however, meaning that while he is no longer with the band that they retain an amicable relationship. Koenig explains that this relationship differs from their previous work with Vampire Weekend however, and that their roles remain different.
“To go from collaborating with somebody to doing stuff by yourself would be insane,” Koenig explained in an interview with Rolling Stone. “But that’s not the case. I’m continuing to have the exact same role that I’ve always had in the band: songwriting and vibe direction. So it wasn’t a very difficult transition for me.”
Other themes unique to Koenig, who has had a lot happen in the past five years will also be present in the near future will likely feature on the album. Themes such as fatherhood, and his unique relationship may likely be explored on the upcoming project.
“I’ve never been married,” Koenig, who became a parent with his partner, Rashida Jones explained in the Rollind Stone Interview. “But I think everybody thinks about those things as you get older. There’s something about [the title] that’s almost Biblical. It’s about the ties that bind, the relationships between communities, between humans and God, between people and the land they live on.”
Father of The Bride is expected to be released this May, and will be released on a variety of unique platforms including CD, cassette, standard black vinyl and exclusive limited edition orange vinyl.
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
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