Vampire Weekend singer Ezra Koenig speaks after founding member Rostam Batmanglij leaves

He also revealed the working title for the upcoming fourth record

Vampire Weekend (Getty Images)

In a tragic announcement for indie-rock fans everywhere, the Vampire Weekend’s ‘secret weapon’ Rostam Batmanglij has quit the band

The multi-instrumentalist and backing singer was a major creative force within the band, producing their second album, Contra, by himself and co-producing the third with Ariel Rechtshaid.

Batmanglij announced his departure through Twitter, writing "my identity as a songwriter and producer, I realised, needs to stand on its own.”

To some comfort, he also mentions that “Ezra (Koenig, the band’s lead singer) and I will continue to collaborate on future projects and future Vampire Weekend songs.” Read the note below.

Throughout Vampire Weekend’s rise to international fame, Batmanglij has continuously worked on other projects, having written and produced songs for Charlie XCX and Carly Rae Jepsen, released solo material and formed the alt-R&B duo Discovery.

Since the announcement, Koenig has spoken out via Instagram, writing: "A couple years ago, Rostam and I sat down at his house and talked about whether our collaboration was dependent on being members of the same band.

“We both firmly agreed that nope, it was not. In fact, we agreed that our collaboration was more important.” See the post below.

 

A couple years ago, Rostam and I sat down at his house & talked abt whether our collaboration was dependent on being members of the same band. We both firmly agreed that nope, it was not. In fact, we agreed that our collaboration was more important. I'm psyched about the work we've already begun for LP4 and I'm psyched to hear anything else Rostam is a part of. Also very excited to continue playing music with CT and Baio but there will be plenty of time to talk about that later in the year. For now in the Vampire Weekend universe, it's all about recording the next album. There will be a lot of familiar faces in the studio but also some fresh, new ones. Working title is "Mitsubishi Macchiato"...for obvious reasons. Shout-out to the fans who have been waiting for new music - it's coming. Also tomorrow, we gotta talk abt Iowa.

A photo posted by Ezra Koenig (@arze) on Jan 26, 2016 at 2:51pm PST

The singer added that the working title for the upcoming fourth record is Mitsubishi Macchiato.