Rostam Batmanglij Explores American Identity on New Album American Stories

The first song Rostam Batmanglij learned on guitar was Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode, the classic American rock 'n' roll hit about becoming a rock star. "It doesn't get more American than that," he says with a smile.

The 42-year-old superproducer, known for work with Frank Ocean, Charli XCX and Carly Rae Jepsen, and former Vampire Weekend member sat across from me in a London coworking cafe. He tried to explain his lifelong fixation with U.S. culture. "My brother was born in France, my parents were born in Iran," he said. "But I was in my mum's womb when I first came to America. My position is different. So what is my relationship to the American flag? What is my relationship to American citizenship?"

Those questions drive American Stories, Batmanglij's third solo album and strongest yet. Its elegant pop songs mix elements of Astral Weeks and Andy Shauf. He sings about love, songwriting and, on the standout tracks, the rapidly changing political scene. While making it, he drew from Persian music and Americana, aiming to blend them. "A good challenge," he said. The result sounds American with pedal steel and Middle Eastern thanks to Amir Yaghmai of the Voidz on the lute-like Turkish saz.

The 2025 election of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim Indian democratic socialist, sharpened the album's focus. Now based in Los Angeles, Batmanglij majored in music at Columbia University, where he formed Vampire Weekend, and lived in New York City for years. He posted strong support for Mamdani's campaign. Few U.S. political figures draw as much right-wing hate as Mamdani, born in Uganda and firm in his left-wing views. It led Batmanglij to consider "the idea that there's an agenda to say what is and isn't American," he said. "Zohran's election is an expansion of what is part of American leadership. That was meaningful to me."

Batmanglij wrote and recorded the album before the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran. He focuses more on family history than wide Iranian-American relations. Some lyrics appear to nod indirectly to Israel's bombardment of Gaza after Hamas attacks. On Come Apart, he sings, "When they burned olive trees / They set fire to the leaves / But the roots are too strong / To let go of where they're from." On The Weight, he seems to address students protesting university ties to Israel, saying they've "got courage on your side."

Wearing an Artists4Ceasefire badge on his blazer, Batmanglij said the songs reflect the last few years but avoided specific interpretations. "I like the idea that someone can approach them while not knowing what's been going on. There's a lot of people who don't. But I don't think an interview is the right place for them to find out. I want people to say, 'I love that song!' Then their best friend is like, 'Well, you know what it's about, right?'"

Batmanglij, who has collaborated with Gen Z artists like Clairo and Declan McKenna, said younger people have more clarity on world events. By contrast, he added, "A lot of people in my generation and older have, I think, deluded themselves."

Over a decade ago, Batmanglij left Vampire Weekend for full-time production and solo work. He always felt confident as a producer, noting that Vampire Weekend's debut, his first production, went platinum. Going solo lets him chase any idea fully. "It could be a bad idea. But I'll believe in it and want to keep believing in it," he said. "There is something fun about refusing to give up on an idea."

One example is Hardy, featuring Clairo, whose debut Immunity he produced. He made the beat in 2012 but took years to finish it. "I spent about two or three years just writing lyrics," he said, "before I tried to record any vocals." The song, about trying to write a song, tackles tricky ground for musicians but succeeds.

American Stories pulls off combinations of sounds and ideas that shouldn't mesh but do, due to Batmanglij's skill. His parents' migration to America partly inspired it. "My mum was like, 'Why don't you sing in Persian?'" he said, grinning. "She'll never be happy!"