Rostam has shared his first single of 2021 in “These Kids We Knew.” The song follows singles “Under Control” and “Unfold You,” released at the end of 2020.
The former Vampire Weekend member wrote “These Kids We Knew” while “in a fever-dream state” as he recovered from Covid-19 in early March. The acoustic track focuses on the generational conflicts surrounding the climate change crisis, lyrically rebutting those who refuse to deal with the climate emergency at hand: “Ain’t proud of where we’re going / You say we can’t afford to slow down / But the skies won’t take it no more / So we’re gonna slowly pull the earth back together.” The accompanying music video chops between dystopian, smog-filled animations of the earth and happier renditions of a repaired environment.
Rostam said of the single:
I was thinking of three generations while I was writing this song. There’s a generation of adults who don’t see global warming as their problem because they think they won’t be impacted by it. Then there’s a generation younger than mine, who will certainly have to deal with what is happening. In the song I have a fantasy of the younger generation arresting the adults and putting them on trial in the streets of cities around the world. Those are the “sidewalk courts” that I sing about in the song.
Stream Rostam’s latest single here, and watch the music video below. You’ll find audio from Vampire Weekend’s 2007 Daytrotter session further down.