Vampire Weekend celebrated its success by hitting the road for the better part of two years, and keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij gathered additional accolades by releasing an album with
Discovery, his electro side project with
Ra Ra Riot's Wes Miles. During this time, Vampire Weekend returned to the studio to record Contra, which arrived in early 2010. Featuring the singles "Horchata" and "Cousins," the album debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album.
Late in 2011, the band returned to the studio to work on its third album, working with Ariel Rechtshaid, who co-produced the album with Batmanglij. Described as a darker, more organic set of songs by
Koenig, Modern Vampires of the City was released in May 2013. Like Contra, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and also won the Grammy for Best Alternative Album in 2014. Early in 2016, Batmanglij announced he had left Vampire Weekend but would continue to work with
Koenig in the future. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi