Not Many Experts

Horchata, for those living on the East side of the Atlantic, is an eminently disgusting sounding rice & almond “drink” popular in Latin America. Or so Wikipedia reliably (?) informs me. And, disgusting or not, Vampire Weekend decided to make a song about it. Following a mysterious 4 hour countdown earlier today, the Brooklyn band are giving it away for free via their website.

Could I be more excited about new album “Contra”? No. Could “Horchata” be any better? Yes. Being fair, it’s the sort of light and breezy sun and sand pop music that caused everybody with a v-neck sweater to fall in love with Vampire Weekend, but the lack of progression is blatant. Does this matter? Should every band be trying to emulate Radiohead’s proficiency of changing musical styles every album? I’m not sure that they should be, but there’s a marked difference between switching genres á la Radiohead, and the natural process of development. That said, “Horchata” is the first song on the album, and it would therefore make sense for it to be a sort of stop gap between “Vampire Weekend” and “Contra”. Personally, I think that we need to listen to it in its context; if “Horchata” is merely a convenient bridge between old and new, then it will go down as an evocative reminder of the debut we loved. On the other hand, if it’s indicative of “Vampire Weekend Part II (Because We Made, Like, Loads Of Money On The Last One)” then I’ll be disappointed. However, given that “Vampire Weekend” was so new and bold in its musical style, I can’t really see them disappointing us and playing it too safe. The end result? Still really excited, if a little nervous.

Vampire Weekend – Horchata