Six years is a long time to wait. Rostam left the band, Ezra started a family, Chris Baio released two middling solo albums and Chris Thompson released what is perhaps the most forgettable album of the decade.
And with every year the stakes got higher. And yeah, sure, a lot more happened along the way too: ‘Half-Light’, Neo Yokio, Time Crises, “Hold Up,” ‘I Had A Dream That You Were Mine’, Rashida Jones… But LP4 cruelly loomed over and through it all. Were the remaining boys in the band doomed to fall? Could their winning streak be over?
“Hold You Now” answers these questions with a near immediate and truly emphatic NO! VAMPIRE WEEKEND ARE BACK, BABY. They’re seemingly no worse for the wear from losing Rostam, and, in many ways, they’re more interesting than ever.
‘Father of the Bride’ masterfully evades description. It’s as much classic Vampire Weekend as it is like nothing they’ve done before. It weaves and bobs through musical moods and styles with an effortlessness that conceals the colossal effort it must have required.
Instant classics sit aside slow burns, highs are woven into lows. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s equally immediate and acquired, an album that will only bloom with further listens that you can also enjoy right away. I guess what I’m really trying to say is that it’s brilliant and, for my money, undoubtably the album of the year.
Score: 🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎/5
Bon Vivant and Champion Bridge Player.