With the next Vampire Weekend album release approaching, frontman and lyricist, Ezra Koenig, has been enrolled in a string of interviews. In which he has revealed the inspiration behind what is to come from the band with the expected release of a follow up album to 2013's Modern Vampires of the City. On the one hand the inspiration comes from country singer Kacey Musgraves, and on the other it comes down to hip-hop muso Kanye West. 

Kacey Musgraves Inspires Ezra Koenig

A country star, who self-released three albums before signing with Mercury Nashville, performed in front of Ezra Koenig at a concert in 2016 and forever shifted his approach to songwriting. Musgraves' performance was imbued by her wealth of songwriting experience that began at age 8. Koenig refers to his encounter while listening to her sing as "crystalizing" due to her ability to transmit a song's meaning within the first 30 seconds of singing. Koenig reflects on the contrast between his work and her work, “there are very few Vampire Weekend songs that could be summed up in a sentence. I used to be proud of that, and now I’m a little ashamed of it.”

Writing For Kanye

Back in 2015, Koenig got some experience in the pop world by writing for Kanye. He was involved around the time that Kanye, Rihanna and Paul McCarthy wrote "FourFiveSeconds" and gained insight into what it is like to summon several artists to work on one song. That is why, Koenig now says he wouldn't mind having 200 people working on the next album for Vampire Weekend. However, his more introverted nature inhibits this, as he only actually likes to work with the people he already knows. That is why you can expect the return of former band member Rostam Batmanglij in some of the songs on the new album. 

Until the release, hold tight with a little deep dive into some former Vampire Weekend tracks below. 

Image Source: Thomas Rx