When my father called to tell me about Rostam Batmanglij’s new single, “Woods,” I was immediately intrigued.

My dad is the musical patriarch of my family — like the Godfather, only tall, gentle and bearded — and he zealously raised me on a diet of Violent Femmes and Neil Young until he created the monster I am today.

He informed me that Vampire Weekend co-founder Batmanglij had left the band in January to start his own songwriting career, and had recently dropped “Woods.” I decided to give it a listen, mostly because I can’t ignore the Godfather. But it was also because I needed to know if Batmanglij leaving Vampire Weekend was actually awesome like my father claimed, instead of the disaster my panicked brain thought it might be.

By the first play, I was hooked. The song is deeply bizarre but incredibly chill, a fantastical mix of cello, bongos and violin with Batmanglij’s voice layered throughout. It sort of sounds like Bombay Bicycle Club’s “Feel,” only sleepier. I totally loved it. It was nothing like Vampire Weekend, and that was probably the point.

So many bands have fallen into the trap of splitting up, only to create music on their own that sounds pretty much exactly the same. Gwen Stefani’s No Doubt break-up resulted in no change except the lack of a band. Paramore’s split resulted in two pop-punk bands, instead of one. And I remember when Fall Out Boy’s lead singer, Patrick Stump, attempted a “solo” career that ended in inevitable flaming failure.

For me, Vampire Weekend was solely about “Diane Young” singer Ezra Koenig. Batmanglij never even crossed my radar. He was completely swallowed by the band itself — more of a collective than an individual, hidden beneath Koenig’s general magnetism and stage presence. But Batmanglij actually produced Vampire Weekend’s first two albums, and co-produced the third. Plus, he’s a rad keyboard player.

“Woods” wasn’t Batmanglij’s first venture outside of Vampire Weekend. Discovery, Batmanglij’s side project with Syracuse’s own Ra Ra Riot, sounds like a super-synth rainbow fun party. They released their first LP back in 2009 before gently fizzling out due to the success of their own bands. Not necessarily my cup of tea, but definitely the start of something interesting.

Batmanglij also released “EOS,” a deeply intimate sound explosion with delicate vocal layering, on a YouTube channel with less than 2000 subscribers. It’s soft, it’s quiet, it builds. It’s nothing like Vampire Weekend and that is the beauty of it: When Batmanglij left the band, it was to create something completely different.

The good news is that the split seems amicable, and Batmanglij says he might be working with Vampire Weekend again. The better news is that Batmanglij’s songs have beautiful lyrics, beautiful sound and are all his own. And as usual, the Godfather has spoken: Batmanglij is definitely a musician to watch out for.

Emera Riley is a sophomore magazine journalism major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. You can email her at elril100@syr.edu or follow her on Twitter @emerariley.

Published on March 8, 2016 at 7:40 pm