Vampire Weekend will release its next studio album, Contra via XL Recordings. The band started work on its sophomore album in Brooklyn last December and previewed a few of its new songs while in Mexico this past March (the quartet also recorded a song for Contra while in Mexico). Contra will feature ten songs: “Horchata,” “White Sky,” “Holiday,” “California English,” “Taxi Cab,” “Run,” “Cousins,” “Giving Up The Gun,” “Diplomat’s Son” and “I Think Ur A Contra.” “There’s clearly a different mentality going into this record since we’re an at least a somewhat known quantity,” drummer Chris Tompson recently told Relix/Jambands.com “The last one was pretty piecemeal and just for ourselves—we had no idea what it would do or if it would do anything.”

Vampire Weekend will perform at Montreal’s Le National on October 6 and Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern on October 8. Look for a profile on the group’s new album in the November issue of Relix.