Vampire Weekend Draw Inspiration From Kate Hudson For New Album

In 2010, Vampire Weekend released a rather amazing album of pan-ethnic pop, debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart, showed up on the "Eclipse" soundtrack, hung out with Lil Jon, the RZA, a very drunk Jake Gyllenhaal and a Jonas Brother and even got sued by the unwitting star of their Contra album cover.

Needless to say, it was a pretty hectic year, the kind most bands would follow with a rather lengthy (and well-deserved) break. But, as they told on Sunday at KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas in Los Angeles, Vampire Weekend aren't most bands: They're already in the early stages of work on the follow-up to Contra. To be honest, though, they've been in those early stages for a while now.

"We're always thinking about the next album. ... I would say we've been thinking about the next album since before we finished the last one. It's natural. ... I think that's the way we work," frontman Ezra Koenig said. "In terms of working on it, have the four of us gotten into the studio and started laying down tracks for it? Not in any formal way, but in some way that's not even the most important part of the process. So the ball's already rolling. When and how we start working on it — we definitely need a break — but the talking about ideas, that's already happened, and there's definitely stuff floating around."

And just where have VW been gathering inspiration for that "stuff"? Why, from the works of noted auteurs Mike Myers, that dude who plays Dwight on "The Office" and, uh, Kate Hudson, of course.

"Collectively, we've been watching a lot of big-budget comedies that may or may not have been successful at the box office," drummer Chris Tomson said with a smile.

"Usually not successful," Koenig added. " 'The Love Guru,' a notorious financial failure, 'The Rocker,' [that] didn't do too well at the box office, 'Bride Wars,' that was the exception. ... Any time you interact with a piece of art — whether it's something that goes on to be your favorite or something that maybe you find issue with — still, that's going to help you think about the art you want to make."

Sounds, uh, interesting. Still, though they're working on a new album, Koenig cautions that it's going to be a while before fans actually hear it. After the year they've had, VW have sort of earned the right to take their time with things — not to mention the fact that they're still waiting for "Date Night" to make it to the top of their Netflix queue.

"Knowing us, it takes us a very long time to make an album," Koenig said. "Is it possible that things from the Vampire Weekend family could come out in 2011? I'm sure, but a Vampire Weekend album ... I don't see any reason to rush it."