Although Vampire Weekend recently released a new single called “Sunflower,” the New York group elected to perform a cover of Post Malone’s track of the same name during their BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge session. This low-key version transforms Post Malone’s pop-ready number into a vibe-y indie rock tune, stripping back the synth beats in favor of sparse piano chords.
Post Malone’s single, which appeared on the soundtrack for Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, featured Swae Lee and was penned specifically for the animated Marvel film. The song topped the charts after the movie was released in theaters.
Vampire Weekend has been preparing to release their fourth album, Father of the Bride, which drops May 3. During their BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge session the band also performed “Harmony Hall,” a track off the upcoming album. Ezra Koenig previously told Rolling Stone he had a moment of panic when he realized there was already a single called “Sunflower,” thinking, “‘God, we have to get this out!’”
Koenig said of the new music, “On our first album, most of the songs were written in college, and it had a very youthful vibe. On the second and third records, the wide-eyed enthusiasm dimmed considerably. You see more of the world, and you’re more and more disheartened. But that trajectory can’t go on forever. After you make the black-and-white album cover with the songs about death, you can’t go deeper. This is the life-goes-on record.”