Rostam Batmanglij is Leaving Vampire Weekend

It looks like the single and video that Rostam Batmanglij released earlier this month was a harbinger of much bigger, much sadder news for Vampire Weekend fans. The producer, multi-instrumentalist, and de facto co-leader of the art rock paragons announced his departure from the band today in a note posted to his Twitter.

“My identity as a songwriter + producer, I realized, needs to stands on its own,” he wrote. He says that he will continue to work with Ezra Koenig on projects and on future VW songs, but will be focusing more heavily on a nascent solo career. Check out the full note, written in informal shorthand, below:

pic.twitter.com/fYqZtwYkCU
— Rostam Batmanglij (@matsoR) January 26, 2016

You can read our 2013 feature on Vampire Weekend here.