Indie foursome Vampire Weekend have broken their three-year silence with a double A-side single, “Step” and “Diane Young”. The pair of tracks act as the first taste of their upcoming album Modern Vampires of the City, which lead vocalist Ezra Koenig has described as “darker and more organic” than their previous two releases. In especially good news, the project is being co-produced by Rostam Batmanglij and Ariel Rechtshaid, the latter of whom produced excellent tunes like Charli XCX‘s “Nuclear Seasons“, Usher‘s “Climax”, Sky Ferreira‘s “Everything Is Embarrassing” and Haim‘s “Falling“.
While “Diane Young” is exactly what you’d expect from Vampire Weekend, “Step” treads into mellower territory that might please fans (or non-fans) who find the band’s trademark sound a bit tiresome. My ears are leaning toward “Step”, but “Diane Young” grew on me after a few spins… How about you?
– Dewitt
Photo credit: Tim Soter
Listen to “Step” & “Diane Young” below:
“Step“:
“Diane Young“:
These are great tracks! Have to say I absolutely love Vampire Weekend. I’d say both are a little bit of a departure from their previous work. While “Step” is more down tempo than their previous fare, it still pretty much sounds like a Vampire Weekend track. As for Diane Young it sounds a little less like Paul Simon and more like Jerry Lee Lewis, but still very much in keeping with their other songs. Now I need to go add this forth coming album to my wish list.