The National

wokeupnew said:
What’s everyone’s favorite songs off the new album so far? Least favorite?

Rylan is definitely the standout so far, Hey Rosey (I’m biased because my cat’s name is Rosie), Not in Kansas, Where is Her Head and Light Years too.

Dust Swirls in Strange Light is easily my least favorite. I don’t mind the choral vocals but the melody is just boring and static. I also am not too big on You Had Your Soul With You either, it’s not a super thrilling opener like most National albums tend to have. It reminds me of “Geyser” by Mitski, setting the stage for the rest of the album.
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What you listed are all my favorites too. But I also really love Quiet Light. Overall, Not In Kansas and Where Is Her Head are my top top favorites. But yeah, the others you listed too for sure. Always look forward to Hey Rosey and Light Years, but especially Rylan.

Least favorite: Roman Holiday. It’s one of those songs that just does nothing for me at all. I want to skip it when I hear it just to get to the good stuff again. But I’ve refrained.

Dust Swirls In Strange Light is another I just don’t enjoy. But I let it play cause it works as a transition. But yeah the delivery is just...not for me. I love the idea of the song and the lyrics even.

But breaking it all down and thinking of it this way in least and most favorites I realize I like pretty much everything else in the album. Some songs will continue to grow on me for sure, so I’m curious to see what winds up making its way to the top of my favorites over time
 
Chimichanga said:
The new one is probably not the BEST place to go first in terms of understanding the band as a whole, but in truth they're all pretty good to fucking excellent. If you love Boxer, listen to Alligator first (probably). I personally can't decide during any given month if High Violet or Trouble is better, so I don't bother trying to keep a headranking.

To make two haphazard Radiohead analogies, I see Sleep Well Beast as akin to Hail to the Thief in some of its left turns, and this new one is sonically reminiscent of Moon Shaped Pool in that its somehow simultaneously sparser and more lush than previous albums.

The new mix of vocals is definitely interesting and arguably a success (I think Gail Ann Dorsey in particular crushes her parts), but there's no question that it's a very different sound than what they've tried before.
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Phew, the A Moon Shaped Pool comparison I made earlier isn't totally crazy! (Or, I guess it's possible we're both crazy...)
 
Bennnnn said:
What you listed are all my favorites too. But I also really love Quiet Light. Overall, Not In Kansas and Where Is Her Head are my top top favorites. But yeah, the others you listed too for sure. Always look forward to Hey Rosey and Light Years, but especially Rylan.

Least favorite: Roman Holiday. It’s one of those songs that just does nothing for me at all. I want to skip it when I hear it just to get to the good stuff again. But I’ve refrained.

Dust Swirls In Strange Light is another I just don’t enjoy. But I let it play cause it works as a transition. But yeah the delivery is just...not for me. I love the idea of the song and the lyrics even.
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Roman Holiday reminds me of Born to Beg and Fireproof. All nice songs with easily identifiable vocal melodies but nothing more than surface level lyrics and music.
 
wokeupnew said:
Definitely unpopular, I thought it was kinda blah when it was released as a single but it’s grown on me a lot.
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I didn’t know what to make of it the first time I heard it. Or even the fourth time I heard it. But now it’s crept up on me and wins me over more each time.

It’s kind of like the “Humiliation” of the album. Which, I’ll still maintain is one of the bands most underrated songs. It’s one of my favorites on TWFM, and would easily crack my top 20-30 songs.
 
Finally got to work and opened my vinyl package for the the 3LP limited edition. The record package itself is glorious, nice thick lyrics booklet, three glorious bits of red, yellow & grey vinyl (although side B of the grey soundtrack vinyl is missing a label - is that normal?)
EDIT: Oh actually bothered looking at it properly - it's etched on one side!

However my polyurethane thick plastic wrapping is REALLY wrinkled - see the image below. Any ideas on what I can do here to fix this?


1766
 
Found the album pretty average and even disappointing in comparison to their last album, but this is coming from someone who isn't a hardcore National fan.

I really enjoyed Sleep Well Beast and I consider Boxer to be their best work. The good thing about those two albums are the song writing is concise and cuts to the point, this one sort of meanders on but I think deep down that's what National fans really like and want - to be completely swallowed by the melancholy. For me this one is almost like a film score but is not super imaginative - typical of band that's released so much material, they're trying to switch up the style, but instead it's just ends up being a grandiose version of their original style with some extra gimmicks.

The duets are nice - thought I was listening to a Stars track (not a bad thing).
 
There's a brief iheart interview that delves into the songwriting process of the album. It's pretty interesting: I didn't realize how involved Carin was, but It sounds like some songs she wrote solo.

I also like the Not in Kansas anecdote... so reading this, it sounds like Mike Mills added That's Amore? I'd like to hear the orignal!

Matt explains, "There was a nine minute version of a song called 'Not In Kansas' that was really just a stream of consciousness thing that I really liked, but Mike cut most of it out, and that turned it into a six minute version, and then put another song inside of it.

www.iheart.com

The National Details The Making of New Project 'I Am Easy to Find' | iHeartRadio

The National's Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner open up about their new project 'I Am Easy To Find' | iHeartRadio
www.iheart.com www.iheart.com
 
wokeupnew said:
What’s everyone’s favorite songs off the new album so far? Least favorite?

Rylan is definitely the standout so far, Hey Rosey (I’m biased because my cat’s name is Rosie), Not in Kansas, Where is Her Head and Light Years too.

Dust Swirls in Strange Light is easily my least favorite. I don’t mind the choral vocals but the melody is just boring and static. I also am not too big on You Had Your Soul With You either, it’s not a super thrilling opener like most National albums tend to have. It reminds me of “Geyser” by Mitski, setting the stage for the rest of the album.
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As mentioned previously, Not in Kansas is the centerpiece of the album and by far my favorite track. Other highlights for me include; Quiet Light, Oblivions, The Pull of You, I Am Easy To Find, Where is Her Head, Rylan and Light Years. My least favorite tracks are the interludes.
 
So, I purposely avoided this thread as to not spoil the album until I received it from Amoeba.

Gotta say, aside from the PVC jacket, the packaging is absolutely remarkable. Love the artwork throughout. I purchased the clear indie-only vinyl, and both records are flat, centered, and have almost no surface noise. Really pleased.

As for the music, this is probably my favorite release from the National by far. I really enjoy the female vocalists. Breaks up the typical minimal range/monotone vocals on previous albums. This album is quite long, so I'm still working my way through it, but Oblivions is excellent, as is Rylan. I really enjoy the spring peepers (frog calls) that they sampled and worked into I Am Easy to Find. I'm a wildlife biologist by trade, so sampling a frog chorus into the music was a pleasant surprise.
 
I love pretty much every track except for the interludes which are just neutral for me. I don't hate them like some do but I don't think they're much more than some space placed between tracks. The only track I don't love is You Had Your Soul With You and I think it's mostly because I don't quite like the way the recording sounds for the first 15 seconds or so. It feels kind of flat to me for a while and then from the first chorus on it sort of comes to life a little more. I still sometimes just start the album on Quiet Light though.
 
I've been into this band since Sad Songs...came out and this is the first album since that hasn't immediately grabbed me. That being said, "Not In Kansas" is probably one of my favorite things they've ever done. Love the REM and Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 teases.
 
Like most obnoxious indie brats of the early 2000’s, I adopted The National like a wounded puppy that was clearly lapping up expired wine in an alley somewhere. I remember liking Cherry Tree and Sad Songs, but they were an unmemorable experience that never resonated with me. Then Alligator happened, and I became the cliché fan that every journalist/critic wrote about when discussing The National. The superlative descriptor that haunted The National during that period of time, was that they were a “grower” and for good reason. If Alligator won you over on first listen, your ear has a more sophisticated palate than mine. It took months of one-off revisits (started with Mr. November and Abel, since they were like rallying cries for my anxiety issues) that slowly morphed into multi-track groupings, and by years end, it was MY album. Boxer was easier. Easier as in, I loved it instantly. If I had owned a turntable back then, I would have burnt a stylus on just that record alone. Everything after that has been consistently fantastic, to a nearly boring degree. Which sounds derogatory, but I don’t know how else to state it. The National are boringly excellent at EVERYTHING they do or involve themselves in (side projects, movies, soundtracks, art installations, using a slip ‘n slide). Having said that, after Sleep Well Beast I could tell I was ready for a new direction. Berninger is one of my all-time favorite lyricists, one who takes vague and sometimes opaque lines on paper, that somehow take on a technicolor life of their own in my brain (to this point, I’ve always considered my love for his words a very personal thing, but the more I talk to National fans the more I hear this sentiment echoed, so it must be a gift of his), but his delivery can have a mundane quality as side B runs out of grooves.

This new album is (predictably) fantastic, but in a new way. It’s still oozes all the National staples - professionalism, and a sound that has clearly been sweated over to an exhausted degree – but for my tastes, there are two factors that have broken the shackles (so on brand right now) that Sleep Well Beast felt restrained by; the first being the obvious – the new voices. Their presence now feels essential, to a point where I hope The National become a Polyphonic Spree sized group, touring with a small village of women and bearded men, like a traveling cult. The second is a part of the National that can be maddening to me at times… they have the best drummer on the planet! Bryan Devendorf is a god with an irregular heartbeat, and he’s always felt like their secret weapon, but one they deploy far too little. His talents are on full display here, and they paced out perfectly (You Had Your Soul With You (1), Quiet Light (2), Hey Rosey (6), Where is Her Head (9), Rylan (14) all being highlights that Devendorf goes full Animal on). Nobody can do a gorgeous molasses drip of a song like The National, but their most recent albums have been bogged down by large groupings of these tracks (for better and worse), but I Am Easy to Find avoids those pitfalls by unleashing Devendorf at all the right moments.

I’ve loved this band for so long now, praising them feels like throwing quarters into a volcano. And after 7 full length albums I thought it was finally starting to peter out. Nope. Excellence prevails, and the world’s most boring superhero has once again saved the day. I’ll be at the quarter machine hoping it takes $20’s.
 
MikeyP said:
Like most obnoxious indie brats of the early 2000’s, I adopted The National like a wounded puppy that was clearly lapping up expired wine in an alley somewhere. I remember liking Cherry Tree and Sad Songs, but they were an unmemorable experience that never resonated with me. Then Alligator happened, and I became the cliché fan that every journalist/critic wrote about when discussing The National. The superlative descriptor that haunted The National during that period of time, was that they were a “grower” and for good reason. If Alligator won you over on first listen, your ear has a more sophisticated palate than mine. It took months of one-off revisits (started with Mr. November and Abel, since they were like rallying cries for my anxiety issues) that slowly morphed into multi-track groupings, and by years end, it was MY album. Boxer was easier. Easier as in, I loved it instantly. If I had owned a turntable back then, I would have burnt a stylus on just that record alone. Everything after that has been consistently fantastic, to a nearly boring degree. Which sounds derogatory, but I don’t know how else to state it. The National are boringly excellent at EVERYTHING they do or involve themselves in (side projects, movies, soundtracks, art installations, using a slip ‘n slide). Having said that, after Sleep Well Beast I could tell I was ready for a new direction. Berninger is one of my all-time favorite lyricists, one who takes vague and sometimes opaque lines on paper, that somehow take on a technicolor life of their own in my brain (to this point, I’ve always considered my love for his words a very personal thing, but the more I talk to National fans the more I hear this sentiment echoed, so it must be a gift of his), but his delivery can have a mundane quality as side B runs out of grooves.

This new album is (predictably) fantastic, but in a new way. It’s still oozes all the National staples - professionalism, and a sound that has clearly been sweated over to an exhausted degree – but for my tastes, there are two factors that have broken the shackles (so on brand right now) that Sleep Well Beast felt restrained by; the first being the obvious – the new voices. Their presence now feels essential, to a point where I hope The National become a Polyphonic Spree sized group, touring with a small village of women and bearded men, like a traveling cult. The second is a part of the National that can be maddening to me at times… they have the best drummer on the planet! Bryan Devendorf is a god with an irregular heartbeat, and he’s always felt like their secret weapon, but one they deploy far too little. His talents are on full display here, and they paced out perfectly (You Had Your Soul With You (1), Quiet Light (2), Hey Rosey (6), Where is Her Head (9), Rylan (14) all being highlights that Devendorf goes full Animal on). Nobody can do a gorgeous molasses drip of a song like The National, but their most recent albums have been bogged down by large groupings of these tracks (for better and worse), but I Am Easy to Find avoids those pitfalls by unleashing Devendorf at all the right moments.

I’ve loved this band for so long now, praising them feels like throwing quarters into a volcano. And after 7 full length albums I thought it was finally starting to peter out. Nope. Excellence prevails, and the world’s most boring superhero has once again saved the day. I’ll be at the quarter machine hoping it takes $20’s.
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Have you considered filling yourself with quarters instead?
 
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