It’s been a few days since he’s announced his departure from Vampire Weekend, but Rostam Batmanglij has already released his first solo track since the split.
The musical mastermind has employed a full instrumental artillery to create this beautiful track, as pure as the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. The Bollywood-inspired sound is brought to life using a mix of a guitar/ banjo combination and a bongo drum. Various instruments from the string section of an orchestra have been used through to give it a light twist, giving the song multiple layers. His smooth hum of a voice has a small role in the song as it allows the focus to be on the epic melody, before capping off with the sound of bells jingling.
According to NME, the song “only took 4 and a half years” to be officially released.
“I wanted to try to capture the feeling of being in bed with someone, and dreaming something wild beside them,” he said in a statement. “In 2008 I moved into a tiny room in Brooklyn Heights that could fit a bed and not much else, but I loved this room to death because it had an enormous window facing the backyards of the block. A lot of time spent in my first relationship was the two of us in that bed with the sun coming through the window in the morning— and I’m sure that inspired the lyrics of this song.”
The other boys from VW have been busy this weekend performing this presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Those at the Iowa rally were able to watch the band perform for the first time in two years, along with Foster The People and more. Killer Mike was also to attend, but was unable to due to a family emergency. They played a cover of Woody Guthrie’s This Land Is Your Land with Sanders himself.
Lead singer Ezra Koenig explained his support for Sanders on CNN. “I think there’s something so cool about Bernie running as a Democrat — a guy who was the only Independent in the House for a long time, the only Independent in the Senate, a guy who comes from an outside structure and is bringing that to the Democratic Party. There’s something so much more exciting than somebody who comes from within.”
Watch VW’s performance and listen to Batmanglij’s debut track below.
Image: Chart Attack