The upcoming album I’m most excited about is Vampire Weekend’s Only God Was Above Us, the indie band’s fifth release and first since 2019’s Father of the Bride.
Not only is this one of my favorite bands, but I was completely unaware they were recording new material, let alone that an album was due in early April. What a welcome surprise!
Father of the Bride was the band’s first album without founding member Rostam Batmanglij, and (perhaps not coincidentally) it’s my least favorite of their records. It features some excellent songs, but also a lot of weird detours that became easy skips.
So I’m encouraged that this new single, ‘Capricorn,’ sounds a lot like the band’s previous album (and my favorite of theirs), Modern Vampires of the City. The tight, ten-song tracklist also makes me think it could be a return to that era.
We’ll know for sure in a month. Perhaps I’ll give Only God Was Above Us the track-by-track treatment, or at least dedicate a week to it.
Can’t reach the moon now
Can’t turn the tide
The world looked different
When God was on your side
Who builds the future?
Do they care why?
I know you’re tired of tryin’
Listen clearly, you don’t have to try
[Chorus]
Capricorn
The year that you were born
Finished fast
And the next one wasn’t yours
Too old for dyin’ young
Too young to live alone
Sifting through centuries
For moments of your own
[Verse 2]
Alone and wounded
But in my prime
I called the hospital
They didn’t have the time
I’d seen it comin’
It’s no surprise
I know you’re tired of tryin’
Listen clearly, you don’t have to try
[Chorus]
Capricorn
The year that you were born
Finished fast
And the next one wasn’t yours
Too old for dyin’ young
Too young to live alone
Sifting through centuries
For moments of your own
[Verse 3]
A hundred dollars
On someone’s dime
I looked for answers there
They weren’t mine to find
Good days are comin’
Not just to die
I know you’re tired of tryin’
Listen, baby, you don’t have to try
[Chorus]
Capricorn
The year that you were born
Finished fast
And the next one wasn’t yours
Too old for dyin’ young
Too young to live alone
Sifting through centuries
For moments of your own
[Outro]
Capricorn
The year that you were born
Finished fast
And the next one wasn’t yours
Too old for dyin’ young
Too young to live alone
Sifting through centuries
For moments of your own
Meet Me In Montauk 
Ooh, excited to hear some new Vampire Weekend! And I agree this first song is promising.
I’m curious who the Capricorn is? At first I thought it might be an aging parent, but I saw one interpretation that it might be about Jesus, who apparently was a Capricorn?