Today, Grammy-winning recording artist, songwriter, producer and composer Rostam has shared the two striking performances: “Like a Spark”, which is the introductory single from his upcoming album, American Stories,and the second, “Young Lion” that was originally released when the artist was a member of Vampire Weekend. The recordings offer a new interpretation on both tracks that reworked through new arrangements and instrumentation, all shaped by Rostam’s signature warmth, restraint and his blend of American Folk with a distinctly Middle-Eastern palette of sound.

While talking about “Young Lion,” Rostam briefly said: “The piano melody in ‘Young Lion’ was always inspired by the Persian music I grew up with. In this version that line passes from Jack’s piano, to my guitar, and then finally to Amir on Saz. I love that this melody can live all these different lives inside this one song .” A mini-doc where Rostam discusses the song’s origin, and its roots dating back to Vampire Weekend’s Contra sessions.

Also, the song eventually became the closing track for 2013’s Modern Vampires of The City, and is the only Vampire Weekend song where Rostam is the sole lead vocalist and sole writer. It also happened to be the final song on the final album where Rostam was still a member of the band.