We’ve been hearing rumblings about a new Vampire Weekend album for a bit now, and it seems like it’s finally about to happen: The band is in teaser mode. Yesterday, they updated their social media accounts with a new photo and the initials OGWAU, seemingly a placeholder for the title of their fifth full-length. Their website also has a new design and a phone number that you can text to stay updated on upcoming VW news. And today they’ve shared a video on their Instagram, which is labeled OGWAUteaser1.mp4 and contains some music and bleary footage. It’s coming!
The story so far: In newsletters that accompanied two vinyl-only live releases last year, the band said that the album was done and to expect it in 2024, and that it’s raga-inspired and “might be our best yet” with “10 songs, no skips.” And as you might recall, Vampire Weekend teased their most recent full-length album, 2019’s Father Of The Bride, with its initials as well, prompting speculation as to what FOTB might mean.
As for OGWAU, Reddit sleuths might have already come up with the answer. As a post laid out earlier today, the subway photograph on Vampire Weekend’s freshly updated website was taken by Steven Siegel as part of a series of shots from the late ’80s at a junkyard in Jersey City. In one of those photographs, someone is reading a newspaper with the headline “Only God Was Above Us,” the front page of an issue of The Daily News from 1988 about a Hawaii plane whose top was ripped off mid-flight. Hmm…
Here’s the teaser:
UPDATE (2/7): Here’s a second teaser:
