Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us Review

For those who only heard Vampire Weekend as part of FIFA and The Inbetweeners, what glorious times lay ahead. The band has gone from strength to strength since their indoctrination into surface-level British culture and latest album Only God Was Above Us makes do without the A-Punk expectation. Instrumentals in a constant fight with lyrical themes and atmosphere, Only God Was Above Us sounds like an intentional struggle. The band battles on, and the soldier found in opener Ice Cream Piano a sign of the times Vampire Weekend find themselves in. We are in enchanting yet angered company. It makes all the difference on this fifth studio album, one where the sound cannot decide on what it wants to be. We are all the better for this spontaneity.  

Only God Was Above Us is all over the place. It has a frenetic instrumental style which Vampire Weekend can barely keep up with. A brilliant listen because of this, the opening spots of Classical continue on the wilder energies of opener Ice Cream Piano, and from there, the band tries to grip the slippery feel of this new sound. At times it marks a vaguely psychedelic experience but ultimately it sticks firm to its indie fundamentals, the whining guitar work and desire for change heard in the lyrical context of these pieces working against the sound as a whole. Volatility is what keeps the band alive. Saxophones crash through the usual grooves of indie instrumentals, sharp keys clicking into place to keep this rush of originality beating. A sonically challenging listen, but ultimately an inspired and interesting bit of work – one of the band’s best can be heard on Capricorn.  

On and on these new fears and feelings go, and for Vampire Weekend it is all about continuing their growth. These come in the form of wilder moments, ultimately acceptable and experience-fuelled songs. Passionate experiences from the past which has moulded their sharp work, the often relied on depths of their instrumental quality is a unique experience for Only God Was Above Us. It feels distant and removed from the contexts Ezra Koenig sings of, the sound of a man coming to terms with the life he leads. Connect hears this most of all – a slice of life interspersed with out-there instrumentals and a reliance on electronic manipulation to create this void of fear. But Koenig pulls himself away from desperation with the sharp and intimate results of sudden percussion, softly spoken lyrics and the acceptance of hitting forty.  

There is a subtlety ringing through this which depends more on Koenig’s personal detail than the experimental flourishes of the instrumentals. The Surfer gets to the root of this. A shock track planted right in the middle of Only God Was Above Us, a song to get to grips with all those anxieties. Powerful pieces of a wider puzzle are heard through this Vampire Weekend release and Koenig invites listeners into an ultimately intimate experience. Brilliant pieces like Mary Boone leave a lasting impression more for the whoops and instrumental dangers taken on board than anything else. Vampire Weekend has hit another rich vein of material and most of it comes from this fear of ageing, though some of the songs they have here will certainly mark themselves as something close to timeless.