In a new interview, Rostam Batmanglij discussed his latest solo project with the release of "EOS," a whirling electronic soundscape anchored by choral voices. He also talked about his work with pop stars from Carly Rae Jepsen to Charlie XCX and the possibilities of a new Vampire Weekend album.
According to Pitchfork, the single and music video for "EOS" is out via XL Recordings and was directed by Batmanglij himself with animation by Jon Race. According to a statement, the video revolves around a 25-second photograph taken during a trip to desert dunes outside Jaisalmer, India.
Batmanglij and his engineer were on a five-day recording binge and he said he needed something new to work on to spark his creativity. He found that inspiration in an old recording on his phone.
"I'm always collecting ideas on my phone but usually it's individual building blocks of a song, this was the essential elements all coming out together," Batmanglij described in the statement. "The rest of the song started to take shape because what I recorded kept reminding of a very specific place and time in my life. I wanted to capture that feeling, and finishing the song became about chasing it down."
Watch the music video below.
He's collaborated in the past with Charli XCX, Jenny Lewis, Wavves, Cloud Nothings, Carly Rae Jepsen, Ra Ra Riot and others but he's perhaps most famous for his work in Vampire Weekend.
He said it's too early to talk about the new album yet, but said that he's always making beats that he can hear Ezra Koenig singing in his head. Batmanglij said they swap ideas back and forth and collaborate in that way, but said he thinks more existentially, where as Koenig writes more deliberately.
When asked if the new album would be a big shift in sound for the band Batmanglij said, "I would hope to make a record that interacts with culture in a macro sense. That is something to aspire to."
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