“Here comes a feeling you thought you’d forgotten,” Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig sings at one point on “Horchata,” the first single from the love-‘em-or-hate-‘em indie band’s upcoming album Contra, due in mid-January. That feeling is that of hearing a perfect summer single, ironically released the moment the season is decisively turning to fall. “Horchata” is just that, a bouncy, irrepressibly catchy ditty that’s captures the distinctly California contradiction of sunshine in winter: “In December, drinking horchata, look down the glasses at the aranciata,” goes another hook.

According to a Pitchfork missive, Vampire Weekend were profoundly influenced by California’s endless summer, and there are other inspirations percolating in “Horchata”’s mix: they add another element to the band’s ethno-musical arsenal with West Indian steel drums, along with orchestral flourishes, and more than anything, a decisive Panda Bear/Animal Collective vibe, which gives the utterly catchy track an experimental edge that makes it weirdly even catchier. On the one hand, “Horchata” sounds like classic Vampire Weekend (that is, if a band who only have one album can be called classic already); on the other, it admirably expands on their sound, demonstrating an ambition to push beyond expectations just enough. Either way, it’s a refreshing serving of indie pop that splits the difference just right between innovation and accessibility.

The new album ‘Contra’ will be out Jan 2010 on XL