Five years after the release of Father of the Bride and the subsequent departure of founding member Rostam Batmanglij, Vampire Weekend is back with their moodiest album yet. Taking inspiration from “20th century New York City, Mistaken memories of mediaeval [sic] Manhattan, [and] … the greatest nondefense construction project in the history of Western Civilization,” Only God Was Above Us is a profoundly nostalgic work. The album constantly refers back to old Vampire Weekend. The drum breaks on “Connect” evoke the drums on 2008’s “Mansard Roof,” and the familiar inflection of the lyric “dyin’ young” on “Capricorn” echoes 2013’s “Diane Young.” It is a reflection on both the band’s past and a nostalgic re-envisioning of the city where lead singer Ezra Koenig grew up.
Sonically, Only God Was Above Us blends the electric and the acoustic to create something that sounds both grand and eclectic, best exemplified in the aptly-titled “Classical” and the heavenly “Mary Boone.” War and peace are common motifs, but one can never quite tell what side Ezra Koenig is on. In the album’s opener, “Ice Cream Piano,” he announces: “Armistice / We never tried it / You’re the soldier / I’m police.” Meanwhile, listeners are thematically drawn between necessity, violence, rejection and complicity on the jumpy “Gen-X Cops.” Koenig is also heavily reflective of the band’s legacy. He begs the question: what has been the impact of our music? Where are we coming from and where are we going? In any case, Only God Was Above Us is itself a pretty good answer: things are going just fine for Vampire Weekend.
