"Only God Was Above Us" is Vampire Weekend's fifth studio album. The album is inspired by and infused with the essence of the band's hometown, New York City, though it was recorded all over the world, from New York to Los Angeles to London to Tokyo. The album was produced by Ezra Koenig and his longtime collaborator Ariel Rechtshaid. The title of the album is taken directly from the album cover, a photo taken by photographer Steven Siegel in 1988 at a subway cemetery in New Jersey.

"Only God Was Above Us" contains universal themes ranging from the urge to question the world we live in to the search for peace that can only be found through acceptance. The album is equal parts as direct and complex as anything the band has ever released, as beautiful and melodic as they've ever sounded, but also at their rawest.