Album Review: Hamilton Leithauser & Rostam - I Had A Dream That You Were Mine

For this heavyweight collaboration, two musicians at the top of their game bring out each other's best.

Former Walkmen vocalist Hamilton Leithauser and former Vampire Weekend multi-instrumentalist and sonic auteur Rostam Batmanglij conspire to offer an album about phoney memories and phoney nostalgia. Batmanglij's doo-wop sounds become sinister once layered with Leithauser's seedy, late night bar room melodies. The album pulls out organs, violins, harmonicas, sax and rolling melodies, culminating in a chilling, angelic duet with Dirty Projectors' Angel Deradoorian. Batmanglij's production brings new rhythms and dynamism to Leithauser's edge-of-breaking pathos and, in turn, Leithauser's witty lyricism and wry story telling invite Batmanglij to play with richer, muddier sounds.