Vampire Weekend make sense of how historical examples of cruelty have become 'classic' over time in an upbeat new song, 'Classical'. The song is taken from their upcoming album Only God was above usis expected to be released on April 5.
Between frontman Ezra Koenig's haunting, screeching guitar and Henry Solomon's ferocious sax solo, Koenig sings about war, peace and abandoned temple ruins, describing the story as “a bleak sunrise.” The music crashes at the end, on purpose.
The video, directed by Nick Harwood, draws on the past by presenting the band as if they were filmed on a VHS camcorder. The treatment looks greasy as the group sings the song, with their image over classic paintings and street scenes from Europe. They even show the green screen.
The track follows release two Only Gone was upon us tracks, “Gen-X Cops” and “Capricorn,” released last month.
The band will hit the road in support of the album next month with a special concert in Austin on April 8th, timing the solar eclipse. After a few festival appearances, they will embark on a lengthy North American tour with several dates scheduled for October. Some of the artists who will be supporting them include Turnstiles, the English Beat, Cults, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Ra Ra Riot and Mark Ronson, among others.
In addition, the group released a new podcast, Vampire Campfire, which finds Koenig talking with bandmates Chris Baio and Chris Tomson around, you guessed it, a fire. The first episode, titled “The 4th Wave of Ska” it's on YouTube now.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/vampire-weekend-new-song-classical-1234987650/
