About Vampire Weekend’s new song, “Horchata”:
If you can get over whatever kneejerk class rage this band may inspire in you — UGH OH MY GOD HOW DARE THESE BLUE BLOOD IVY LEAGUE PRICKS BRAG ABOUT DRINKING RICE MILK WITH CINNAMON THOSE IMPERIALIST GENTRIFYING YUPPIE PREPPY HIPSTERS AND THEIR BOAT SHOES AND THEIR ASCOTS AND ARE THEY TRYING TO IMPRESS ME BY USING THE WORD ‘BALACLAVA’ IT AIN’T WORKING ON ME, RICHIE RICH!!!!!! — you just might notice that this is an extraordinarily sweet, sentimental, and empathetic pop song. There is so much kindness in the very sound Ezra Koenig’s voice, and even more in the gentle, subtly shifting contours of his melodies. The arrangement is a collection of familiar, comforting sensations, but the sounds contrast in interesting ways, evoking a feeling not unlike noticing something new about an object or place you’ve seen almost every day for years of your life. When the chorus comes and Koenig sings “Here comes a feeling you thought you’d forgotten,” it feels exactly like you’re getting something back, and discovering something new about it in the process. The song is sophisticated and carefully composed, but it’s all in the interest of expressing a feeling and a thought with clarity and precision. They aren’t being show-offs, they are just very articulate young men.
