Photo: Press
Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig has addressed the news that Rostam Batmanglij has left the band, saying, "For now in the Vampire Weekend universe, it's all about recording the next album."
Yesterday (26 January) Batmanglij - who served in many roles for the band, including guitarist, vocalist and producer - wrote on Twitter, "I wanted to let ppl kno [sic] I'm not longer a member of VW but that Ezra and I will continue to collaborate on future projects and future VW songs."
He explained, "My identity as a songwriter and producer, I realized, needs to stand on its own. Still connected to the ppl I work with, but through the songs we make together."
Batmanglij has recently worked with the likes of Charli XCX, Hamilton Leithauser and Carly Rae Jepsen, and also wrote original music for Broadway play The Is Our Youth, which starred Michael Cera, Tavi Gevinson and Kieran Culkin.
Now, in a statement on Instagram alongside a picture of snowy US streets, the band's lead singer Ezra Koenig has said, "A couple years ago, Rostam and I sat down at his house & talked abt whether our collaboration was dependent on being members of the same band. We both firmly agreed that nope, it was not. In fact, we agreed that our collaboration was more important."
He added, "I'm psyched about the work we've already begun for LP4 and I'm psyched to hear anything else Rostam is a part of. Also very excited to continue playing music with CT and Baio but there will be plenty of time to talk about that later in the year.
"For now in the Vampire Weekend universe, it's all about recording the next album. There will be a lot of familiar faces in the studio but also some fresh, new ones. Working title is Mitsubishi Macchiato...for obvious reasons."
