Vampire Weekend
Phoenix Unveils New Album and Song Featuring Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig
2000s-era indie rock lovers rejoice: Phoenix has released a new song, “Tonight,” featuring vocals from Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig. The track will appear on Phoenix’s new album, Alpha Zulu, which will be released Nov. 4 on Loyaute/Glassnote Records. In the Oscar Boyson-directed video, Phoenix’s members go about their daily business in Paris while Koenig does the same via split-screen from Tokyo. The track is a first for Phoenix in that the long-running French group has never featured another vocalist on one of its songs until now. [embedded content][embedded content] Alpha Zulu was produced by Phoenix and recorded in Paris’ Musée des Arts Décoratifs inside the Palais du Louvre. “We felt it would be a fantastic adventure to create something out of nothing in a museum,” guitarist/keyboardi...
Rostam Shares ‘From the Back of a Cab’ Single and Video Featuring HAIM, Charli XCX and More
Vampire Weekend founding member Rostam has released “From the Back of a Cab,” a new single that comes with a video featuring collaborators and friends HAIM, Charli XCX, Kaia Gerber, Seth Bogart, Remi Wolf, Bryce Willard Smithe, Samantha Urbani, Wallows, Ariel Rechtshaid and Nick Robinson. The tune is off Rostam’s upcoming album Changephobia, out June 4 on Matsor Projects/Secretly Distribution. He shared his thoughts about the song via a press release: From the Back of a Cab” is probably my favorite song that I’ve written. It started with the 12/8 drums — something you find in Persian music and African music. I built the song around those drums over time, writing the piano part in my living room, the melodies and lyrics on foot walking in New York and Tokyo, on California’s highways, and on...
The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s
Why now? Because — and there’s no reason to ignore the elephant in the room: SPIN stewardship has changed hands many, many times since we made the online jump — we got our chance. Because plenty of our favorite albums of the last 10 years could still use a boost. Because some of the already unanimously beloved music on this list still merits further praise. Because we relish excuses to sound off on the music that’s affected us the most and to enlist some of our favorite writers to do so. Because the works of art below serve as a reminder that the 2010s weren’t all bad. Because lord knows we need the distraction. Because it’s fun. There’s a lot of music that isn’t on this list. Which, duh, but plenty of artists whose work defined the decade for many, many people, including many of us, ...
Switchfoot Share Cover of Vampire Weekend’s ‘Harmony Hall’
After announcing their upcoming EP, Covers, Switchfoot have shared a new track from that project. And this time they put their spin on Vampire Weekend’s “Harmony Hall,” off of the band’s latest album, Father of the Bride. Switchfoot stay true to the bones of the song but with the addition of Jon Foreman’s grittier vocals. Along with the song, Foreman explained why they decided to share this specific tune as opposed to any others this week. In the caption for the video, he wrote: During this difficult week, we have been wrestling with whether or not we should release new music — trying to listen more than speak. As an American, there are so many reasons to mourn, to be angry, to lament. There is so much that we need to change. Let’s take a good, long look at who we are and who we’ve been. L...
Switchfoot Cover Frank Ocean, Vampire Weekend and Harry Styles on New EP
Harry Styles, Coachella headliner Frank Ocean, Vampire Weekend and the Verve once had nothing in common. Well, now they do. Alt-rock quintet Switchfoot announced a new EP of covers this week — appropriately titled Covers – with the group’s first single, a rendition of Ocean’s 2011 Nostalgia, Ultra cut “Swim Good,” released today (May 29). The EP also comes complete with the groups’ takes on Styles’ top-20 single “Lights Up,” the Chainsmokers’ “Sick Boy,” Vampire Weekend’s “Harmony Hall,” the Verve’s “Lucky Man” and Jon Bellion’s “Stupid Deep.” Hey y’all! Hope you’re safe and healthy. During this strange, unsettling time of isolation, playing these cover songs have brought me a lot of joy. They have reminded me that the world’s a lot bigger than the four walls of my own perso...
Ezra Koenig Plays Father of the Bride Medley on Tonight Show
While others are keeping the quarantine streams going or doing weekly covers, Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig has been chilling out a bit — with the occasional acoustic tune on Instagram or joining his partner Rashida Jones on an zoom interview. But on Tuesday night (May 5), Koenig did a special medley of “Flower Moon,” “Stranger” and “Big Blue” from Vampire Weekend’s latest, Father Of The Bride from his home studio, which you’ll immediately see is stocked with equipment. In February, the band released bonus tracks from FOTB, which included a track featuring Jude Law reciting a 19th-century Scottish poem. Watch Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig perform a medley from Father of the Bride on The Tonight Show below: [embedded content]
