Photo of Rostam by Anthony Muse
On American Stories, Rostam, the former Vampire Weekend co-founder/keyboard player/guitarist and human Swiss Army knife, explores his Persian roots by entwining strands of Americana with traditional Persian sounds. This voyage is especially relevant in the wake of the United States’ recent decision to take its never-ending world tour of hubristic, ill-considered overseas incursions to Iran. The album’s cover is a faded image of the American flag turned upside down. If that seems like an intentional choice…well, it is. As an image used by various groups to symbolize different modes of ownership and protest, Rostam’s use of the flag in distress is not only provocative, but is meant to enhance the discussion on the subject happening within the music itself. It’s a discourse that’s inherently American.
Rostam puts his skills as a producer and multi-instrumentalist to use on American Stories, playing acoustic guitar, piano, drums and other percussion—not to mention making the record sound immaculate. However, it’s the album’s vibrant collaborations that transform what could have come off as an insular monologue into a lively conversation. Fellow Iranian-American Amir Yaghmai guests throughout the album, coloring it with his nimble saz (a West Asian long-necked lute) playing, while Daniel Aged’s pedal steel and upright bass offers juxtaposition and unexpected harmony. Additional strokes of color are added by Hamilton Berry on cello and Henry Solomon on flute and clarinet.
The wistfully breathy twang of “Like a Spark,” boosted by Aged’s breezy pedal steel, boasts the informal erudition of a baroque, bluesy art house Nick Drake. Lush finale “The Weight,” which blends Rostam’s crackling loops with Yaghmai’s astounding saz work, has the strength to carry the heavy hope of courage. The gently loping “Different Light” and lyrical “Forgive Is to Know” grapple with a palpable, yet shapeshifting, loss—of a loved one, a country, an identity—or all of the above?
The chunky electro-pop of “Hardy” features the swirling, tightly woven crescendos that are a Rostam speciality. An all too brief guest vocal from Clairo helps propel the song aloft. Equally charming is the propulsive “Back of a Truck,” which boasts a Tobias Jesso, Jr. co-write, and sounds like something you’d gleefully dial in through persistent static on a dusty highway approaching Omaha…or Tehran. Standout “The Road to Death” pairs a comforting twang with a tapping rhythm that sounds alien yet familiar, not unlike drumsticks on layered tinfoil. It’s one of the most hopeful songs about our collective mortality that I’ve ever heard.
At barely over half an hour long, American Stories feels less like a major statement, and more like a series of postcards from an open-ended road trip. By sharing his view of the sociopolitical landscape rushing, and sometimes crawling, by, Rostam bestows a most valuable, and timely, gift—a window through which to glimpse, and possibly, hopefully understand, someone else’s lived experience. In a political climate where the right wing is obsessed with pushing an exclusionary narrative about a mythical white, Christian United States, Rostam potently shoves back with a reminder that his stories are American, too. | Mike Rengel
