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May 12, 2017 Baio By Christopher Roberts

Vampire Weekend’s Chris Baio released his debut solo album, The Names, in 2015 under his last name via Glassnote. Now he has announced his sophomore album, Man of the World, and shared its first single, “PHILOSOPHY!” Check out the song below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art.

Baio and John Foyle co-produced Man of the World, which was recorded in Brixton, London and mixed by Bruce Lampcov (Bryan Ferry, The The).

A press release says that “PHILOSOPHY!” was “written amidst the false equivalencies, polarizing fake news and gridlocked shouting matches that characterized political life in the last year, it’s about what we talk about when we are realizing that philosophizing is not powerful enough to change anyone’s mind. The song is a reflection of an album whose themes of alienation, paranoia, and political will to power are belied by airy melodies and a crystalline pop sheen.”

Baio had this to say about the album in the press release: “Writing Man of the World was my way of processing 2016, a year that began with the death of my favorite artist, David Bowie, and ended with the greatest political disruption of my adult life - all while I was a nomad, an American living in London, touring two continents, never fully of either place. It’s partially about being trapped in my own head, obsessing about things it was too late to change, feeling afraid and guilty and alone. It’s also my attempt to document a certain sense of loss that felt both intensely personal and like part of a larger collective experience many were going through at once.”

Also, read our 2015 interview with Baio about The Names.

Man of the World Tracklist:

1. Vin Mariani
2. The Key is Under The Mat
3. Out of Tune
4. PHILOSOPHY!
5. Exquisite Interlude
6. DANGEROUE ANAMAL
7. Man of the World
8. Sensitive Guy
9. I’m Not Curious
10. Shame in My Name
11. Be Mine

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