We have all been waiting, sometimes impatiently, six long years for Father of the Bride. The double singles fed us through the early months of 2019 but now, on May the 3rd, as summertime takes hold, the eighteen tracked masterpiece is released. And I feel so better for it.
I listen to it as I walk to my 9 am class. The sky clouded but promising and I don’t realise that the bird chatter in ‘Hold You Now’ is on the track and think that nature is just joining in on the celebrations of the new release.
The duets with Koenig and Danielle Haim are unexpected and perfect, reminiscent of June and Johnny Cash. Her country harmonies add a new level to the indie pop tunes. And so does the beautifully crafted guitar riffs from Steve Lacy. These contributors make Father of the Bride a distinctive piece, more than just an indie record. Fragments and snapshots of this time, of America, of culture.
Father of the Bride is an instant work of art that overshadows the previous Vampire Weekend albums.
‘This Life’ and ‘How Long’ are lyrically powerful bops. Vampire Weekend have always had intellectual prowess, albeit sometimes pretentiously, but these songs give them a new level of poeticism. They are thoughtful, reflective, matched in effectiveness in the perfection of sounds that the album contains. Musically, the album is a buffet, from the gentle guitar riffs in ‘Flower Moon’, to the old school piano rattles of ‘My Mistake’ and the dance beat of ‘Sympathy’.
Father of the Bride is an instant work of art that overshadows the previous Vampire Weekend albums. It is stylish, iconic, with every song single worthy. All killer, no filler. All eighteen tracks.
(5/5)