Rostam Batmanglij, the founding member, multi-instrumentalist and co-songwriter of Vampire Weekend quit the band to pursue a solo career. Out of respect to the band and AP Style, we have declined to use an Oxford comma in that list.
He tweeted a screenshot of an iPhone note to break the news, because this is 2016. But fear not, because Batmanglij promises he'll continue to collaborate with the band.
[seealso slug="space-songs"]
pic.twitter.com/fYqZtwYkCU— Rostam Batmanglij (@matsoR) January 26, 2016
This comes following the release of his solo single, "EOS" last week.
Batmanglij keeps busy as a songwriter and producer for artists including Charli XCX, Carly Rae Jepsen, Jenny Lewis and has worked on soundtracks for movies like Sound of My Voice. He's also worked with Walkmen frontman Hamilton Leithauser and told Pitchfork the duo are teaming up for a full-length record.
So, fans have plenty to look forward to, but its understandable if the news is still a bummer as Batmanglij's has been considered one of the band's driving creative forces. In that case, we recommend watching this video of a dog playing bongos to their song "A-Punk."
We also would like to suggest that Vampire Weekend consider hiring a cute puppy to fill out their percussion section.