Only God Was Above Us is the fifth studio album from Vampire Weekend. The album is inspired by and infused with the essence of the band’s birthplace of New York City, though recorded all over the world, from New York to Los Angeles to London and Tokyo. The album was produced by Ezra Koenig, and longtime collaborator Ariel Rechtshaid. The album title is lifted directly from the album artwork, which is a photo taken from a Subway graveyard in New Jersey in 1988 by photographer Steven Siegel.
Only God Was Above Us includes universal themes ranging from the urge to question the world in which we live, and the quest for peace that can only be found through acceptance. The album is equal parts as direct yet complex as anything the band has ever released, as beautiful and melodic as they’ve ever sounded but also at their grittiest.
Only God Was Above Us includes universal themes ranging from the urge to question the world in which we live, and the quest for peace that can only be found through acceptance. The album is equal parts as direct yet complex as anything the band has ever released, as beautiful and melodic as they’ve ever sounded but also at their grittiest.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: There's something unmistakeable about the way Vampire Weekend form their songs, and it's been the case since they first burst onto the scene with their debut LP in 2008. 'Only God...' has all of the pitch-shifted guitar lines and rolling basslines of their early work with Koenig's vocals working away beautifully over the top, but there's a sense of a more mature songwriting drive, and results in possibly their greatest work yet.TRACK LISTING
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