Rostam – “From The Back Of A Cab”

Rostam – “From The Back Of A Cab”

Next month, Rostam Batmanglij will release his second solo album Changephobia. Rostam has said that the album is “about who we are capable of becoming if we recognize these fears in ourselves and rise above them,” and he’s released the early tracks “These Kids We Knew,” “4Runner,” and “Changephobia.” Today, he’s shared his new single “From The Back Of A Cab,” which he says is probably his favorite song that he’s ever written, and he’s shared its cameo-packed video.

“From The Back Of A Cab” is a soft, pretty, contemplative song built on a complicated and slightly glitchy drum pattern. In the video, which Batmanglij co-directed the video with Jason Lester, we see scenes from a taxi’s backseat. Many of the people who show up are Batmanglij’s famous friends and collaborators, including the HAIM sisters, Charli XCX, model Kaia Gerber, producer Ariel Rechtshaid, Remi Wolf, and Hunx And His Punx leader Seth Bogart. Also: several dogs! Go ahead and see who all you can pick out below.

In a press release, Batmanglij says:

“From the Back of a Cab” is probably my favorite song that I’ve written. It started with the 12/8 drums — something you find in Persian music and African music. I built the song around those drums over time, writing the piano part in my living room, the melodies and lyrics on foot walking in New York and Tokyo, on California’s highways, and on the flights and car trips between all those places.

Changephobia is out 6/4 via Matsor Projects/Secretly Distribution.

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