New raga-inspired Vampire Weekend album “close to being done”

Vampire Weekend‘s new album is inspired by raga and “close to being done” according to drummer Chris Tomson.

• READ MORE: ‘Modern Vampires Of The City’ at 10: How the peak Tumblr-era album proved fangirls are experts

The band last released an album with 2019’s ‘Father of the Bride’ and recently announced a new vinyl-only live album series.

In a newsletter revealing the news, Thomson shared what frontman Ezra Koenig has been up to since the band’s ‘Father Of The Bride’ tour finished, and what it could mean for the new material.

“Ezra [Koenig] took a raga singing lesson with Terry Riley in rural Japan and wrote what he considers to be 7 of his all-time top 10 best songs,” he added.

Discussing how the band were then able “to connect, jawbone, and jam” together, Thomson said: “I personally found an immense peace and pleasure from creating with the guys like we had in the Ruggles days. The vibe was strong.”

He added that the album is “close to done,” with Thomson promising updates before the end of the year and saying: “I feel like it just might be our best yet. 10 songs, no skips.”

The first release of the new live album series is titled ‘Frog On The Bass Drum Vol. 01 Live In Indianapolis’ and made up of recordings from the band’s June 2019 show in Indianapolis, Minnesota.

It was limited to 2,500 copies and included their 10-minute cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Jokerman’. The record was manufactured by Jack White’s Third Man Pressing in Detroit, Michigan.

In other Vampire Weekend news, Koeing took to social media last month to reflect on the 10-year anniversary of the band’s third LP ‘Modern Vampires Of The City’.

“MVOTC is ten years old. Wild. Good occasion to slam a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee and reflect,” he began. “Rostam [Batmanglij] and I spent about a year writing and recording this album before we moved into the final phase…

“It was far and away our most ‘studio album,’” he continued. “MVOTC didn’t have songs like ‘A-Punk’ or ‘Cousins’ which began as riffs and started to come to life in the practice room. This is an album of more deliberate composition and detailed, patient recording.”