Vampire Weekend return with 'Only God Was Above Us': Listen now

After being announced this February, and receiving a sample of singles including “Capricorn,” “Gen-X Cops,” “Classical,” and “Mary Boone," Vampire Weekend ’s fifth studio album, Only God Was Above Us , has officially arrived.

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Described in a press release as “direct yet complex, showing the band at once at its grittiest, and also at its most beautiful and melodic,” Only God Was Above Us , is “the product of five years spent refining, reworking and gradually shaping those lyrical and melodic structures to take Vampire Weekend to a new creative peak.” The “10-track magnum opus” began to form back in 2019-2020, when lead vocalist, Ezra Koenig , wrote the bulk of the lyrics.

And while the album is “inspired and haunted by 20th century New York City,” the project’s title comes from its artwork — a photo of a man reading a newspaper with the headline, “Only God Was Above Us,” about Aloha Airlines Flight 243.

Also per a press release, “ Only God Was Above Us is nothing short of a definitive statement — one that begins on a playfully profane and confrontational note, and runs a gauntlet of emotions, experiences, characters and stories, before ending on an unambiguous note of acceptance… and quite literally ‘Hope.’” See the tracklist and listen to the album below.

Only God Was Above Us
1. Ice Cream Piano
2. Classical
3. Capricorn
4. Connect
5. Prep-School Gangsters
6. The Surfer
7. Gen-X Cops
8. Mary Boone
9. Pravda
10. Hope

Hitting the road on a North America Tour in support of the album, Vampire Weekend will kick things off on April 8 in Austin, Texas with a special outdoor performance during the total solar eclipse (which also happens to be Koenig’s 40th birthday).

Sorry to say but the solar eclipse show is already sold out, so if you’re fiending to see some Vampire Weekend live — CLICK HERE — for tour and ticket info.