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"Vampire Weekend&amp;#xA0;co-founder and songwriter Rostam Batmanglij has left the band, according to a note posted on Twitter.&amp;#xA0;\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;I wanted to let ppl kno [sic] I&amp;apos;m no longer a member of VW but that [frontman] Ezra [Koenig] and I will continue to collaborate on future projects and future VW,&amp;quot; he wrote. &amp;quot;My identity as a songwriter and producer, I realized, needs to stand on its own. Still connected to the ppl I work with, but through the songs we make together.&amp;quot;\r\nA representative for Vampire Weekend declined to comment on Batmanglij&amp;apos;s departure\r\nThe announcement comes just weeks after Batmanglij released a new solo track as Rostam, &amp;quot;EOS.&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;At the time, he told Pitchfork, &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;d like to release solo songs on a regular basis, but it&amp;apos;s pretty difficult for me to finish them. But I think that may happen this year. That would make me happy.&amp;quot;\r\n&amp;quot;EOS&amp;quot; marked Batmanglij&amp;apos;s first solo song&amp;#xA0;since releasing a&amp;#xA0;pair of tracks, &amp;quot;Wood&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;and &amp;quot;Don&amp;apos;t Let It Get to You,&amp;quot; in 2011. Two years prior, he and Ra Ra Riot singer Wes Miles released an album, aptly titled LP, as Discovery. Over the years Batmanglij has collaborated with a growing number of artists, including Walkmen frontman Hamilton Leithauser (two songs on his solo LP Black Hours), Charli XCX (&amp;quot;Need Ur Luv&amp;quot;) and Carly Rae Jepsen (&amp;quot;Warm Blood&amp;quot;).\r\n&amp;quot;I can&amp;apos;t even begin to express the joy I get from writing songs, both on my own and with others, I hold it all sacred,&amp;quot; Batmanglij wrote in his note. &amp;quot;There is so much amazing music &amp;#x2014; all of it dear to me &amp;#x2014; on its way to you. It&amp;apos;s an exciting time. And I feel lucky to share it with you.&amp;quot;\r\nIn that same Pitchfork interview, Batmanglij said he was working&amp;#xA0;with Leithauser on a new album, while he also confirmed he&amp;apos;d been in the studio with&amp;#xA0;PC Music&amp;#x2019;s A.G. Cook. As for Vampire Weekend, Batmanglij said it was &amp;quot;too early&amp;quot; to talk about the follow-up to the band&amp;apos;s 2013 LP,&amp;#xA0;Modern Vampires of the City.\r\nHe&amp;#xA0;did say, however, &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;m always making beats, and when I can hear Ezra singing on one of them in my head, I send it to him. That&amp;apos;s one of the ways that we&amp;apos;ve always worked together. In Vampire Weekend, I often express myself in terms of the bigger picture stuff with subconscious choices that I make while I&amp;apos;m making the music.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rostam-batmanglij-quits-vampire-weekend-20160126>