It seems like Christmas has come early for us here at Purple Sneakers, as VAMPIRE WEEKEND have finally given us something new! Not to mention that it was released to the world on Halloween. So does that mean that Halloween is the new Christmas? We certainly hope so.
But all holiday preferences aside, we do bring you the first of what we can only hope will be a new album’s worth of material from the New York locals. This premiere came in the form of a live performance of new track, ‘Unbelievers’, on Jimmy Kimmel on October 31st.
This is pretty much the first we’ve heard out of the Vampire Weekend camp since the band completed touring their sophomore LP, Contra, last year. Since that point, the guys have been locked away in the studio on what we can only assume will be album number three. And as you all should know, all work and no Vampire Weekend makes us dull boys (and girls) - so we're pretty happy that something has come out of these sessions.
Speaking to NME recently, front man Ezra Keonig admitted that something was in the works. "We always try to write and record at the same time. So we've always got some ProTools session demo that tends to actually turn into the finished product. I think we have 80 per cent of the songs now."
Kitted in all black and donned with skeleton facepaint, the 4-piece presented ‘Unbelievers’ to a massive hometown audience as a part of Jimmy Kimmel Live: Back to Brooklyn - Jimmy's week of shows in Brooklyn. And it is a fine return to form, as the new track seems to pick up exactly where Contra left off.
It's catchy and full of life - and it's making us extremely excited for the coming months of Vampire Weekend related shenanigans.
Words by Tom Hutchins
