Rostam Plays New Tunes and Vampire Weekend on MBE

Rostam’s new album has been a long time coming.

It’s fair to say he was the principal architect of Vampire Weekend’s sound during his time in the band (he announced he was leaving last year) and has always demonstrated a unique pop sensibility that combines worldly sounds with his orchestral leanings.

For his live set on KCRW, he invited his longtime friends the Calder Quartet to join on strings while also sharing some super special stripped down arrangements. For instance, he opened “Bike Dream” with a harmonica and played it solo on acoustic guitar.

He also sang the only VW song he ever did lead vocals for — “Young Lion“, the very last song off their last record. He also sang a track from Discovery, his band with Wes from Ra Ra Riot.

He told host Jason Bentley this album was “processing all the music I heard in the kitchen as a kid.” He went on to say that the job of a producer is to be a translator and he thinks his early exposure to other languages (French, Persian) set him off in that direction.

He was tight lipped about what’s on the horizon — with Vampire Weekend or other collaborators — but it’s clear he is keeping very busy and we’ll have to respect his wishes not to “jinx” it by discussing it publicly.

Check out the full session here and another highlight below!

PHOTOS BY STEVEN DEWALL

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