Rostam Announces Debut Album Half-Light, Releases Lovely New Single

Rostam has announced his debut album, Half-Light, which will release on Sept. 8 via Nonesuch. Alongside this announcement, the former Vampire Weekend member also released a new single, “Bike Dream.”

Rostam recorded and produced the 15-track album in his studio in Los Angeles. He explains the meaning behind the album title as experiencing two different worlds.

“It made me think back to a friend in Japan who told me that the word ‘double’ was becoming more and more popular than ‘half’ for people to describe their split ethnicities,” he said. “Any person growing up in America with immigrant parents experiences this dichotomy, of feeling both double and half.”

He also applies these concepts of “half” and “double” to his own sexuality:

It’s something a lot of us who identify as queer experienced growing up as well, slipping between straight and gay worlds, code-switching. I say experience in the past tense because I don’t know that that’s the experience today’s kids will have. Things are changing.

Take a look at the album artwork and tracklist for Half-Light below, and listen to “Bike Dream.” You can preorder the album on iTunes here and listen to its lead single, “Gwan,” here.