Vampire Weekend Get Sentimental on 'Contra'

Vampire Weekend are showing a different side of themselves on their second album, 'Contra' -- a sadder one.

"I think there is more of a sentimental vibe in some of the songs on this record," bassist Chris Baio tells Spinner of the effort, which features two ballads, 'Taxi Cab' and 'I Think Ur a Contra.' "Some of it is just a reflection of the period in your life when you're done with college."

Baio said the band feel their 2008's self-titled debut "was a reflection of us being in school." The new one, however, tackles post-college life, inspired by watching their friends figure out careers, "health insurance and things like that," he says.

But while 'Contra' is heavier, don't go calling it the d-word. "I certainly wouldn't refer to this as a downer record or an incredibly dark one," Baio notes. "I think it is darker than the first though, but I think it's more looking at it in comparison to the first record."

The band began recording the record a year ago in New York, taking a short tour break in Mexico last March, where they laid down just one of the album's tracks, first single 'Cousins.'

"It was really fun," Baio says of VW's south-of-the-border time. "New York in the winter can be somewhat grueling, the weather, so to get to leave and to go into Monterrey and Mexico City, where the weather was just incredible, it was really refreshing. It energized us for when we got back to continue working on the album."

Back in New York, the band continued recording through July songs like 'California English,' which features singer Ezra Koenig singing through an autotuner.

"I think Rostam [Batmanglij, his bandmate] put it on," Baio explains. "We'll always be trying different things and trying different tones for every instrument and he tried autotune on there and it sounded right to all of us. We felt like we were using it in our own way and that people wouldn't really confuse it with stuff like T-Pain or [Kanye West's] '808s and Heartbreak' or anything like that. Not that there's anything wrong with that. We like all that stuff. We thought we were able to do it like, in our own way."

But while they used a host of studio tools and instruments on the record -- a Kalimba thumb piano, a harmonium drum, a kitchen faucet, and a trumpet to name a few -- Baio says the group didn't go out of their way to be so unique.

"I feel like there are moments that are very minimal or use a pretty limited palette of sound," he says. "A song like 'Holiday' or 'Cousins' is really guitar, bass and drums, maybe a little bit piano, so I think it's about serving the song. We'll take different approaches. It's never like we throw every single idea that we have into every song and they all make it. We take away plenty of stuff."

Starting Tuesday, fans can stream Vampire Weekend's new album 'Contra' in its entirety.