The National

There's still some songs I wish Matt had a larger role, like "Where is Her Head" would be a standout if he led the line from the beginning. I still really like it though.
 
This album is a subtler deconstruction of the National sound, especially the last few albums. There's less going on so the remaining elements are more deliberate and meaningful and the listener is given a lot more space to lean in and a bit more responsibility to pay attention. If you're scanning through the tracks or in your head upset that Matt is "sharing the spotlight" (or some other complaint about the context of the record), I can see you walking away feeling there is nothing there to hold on to. But there is a lot there. And it's been really entertaining for me to hear the band achieve the same level of meaning and satisfaction with a sparse drum beat, a few flourishes of guitar and electronics, and a well timed lyrical pause as with a conventional guitar heavy track with constant layer additions that soars into a conventional orchestral cacophony 2 and a half minutes in. The fact alone that we finally get the voice-of-reason counter to Matt's inward babbling performed by some unique and talented non-dude vocalists should be enough to elevate this album, let alone the masterful use of sparse arrangements to produce full meaningful songs. I think this is their latter years masterpiece and will be the album future bands point to as their inspiration and favorite National album, more so than Boxer.
 
wokeupnew said:
There's still some songs I wish Matt had a larger role, like "Where is Her Head" would be a standout if he led the line from the beginning. I still really like it though.
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I am still getting use to his presence not being at the forefront throughout. But it’s warming on me. Where Is Here Head though I think works cause when he does come in it feels so good.

But ya know, something like Rylan doesn’t even need an added vocalist. On the other tracks it makes sense, but here it just feels added in because there’s so much of it on the album already. It doesn’t necessarily take anything away from the song, but it doesn’t add anything either.

But something like Roman Holiday I just don’t like the sparse sounds on it and that sticks out I think because the lyrics are so weak.
 
Huge National fan and on first listen I gotta say I'm not enamored with this album. I feel like its a little unfocused/overlong and has too many vocal guest features for my tastes, feels less like a National album and more like a side project. I found it jarring to not hear berninger's voice for huge stretches of the album.

Now that I've got one listen of it in the books I'm gonna go back with reset expectations and give it another go.
 
roger said:
Huge National fan and on first listen I gotta say I'm not enamored with this album. I feel like its a little unfocused/overlong and has too many vocal guest features for my tastes, feels less like a National album and more like a side project. I found it jarring to not hear berninger's voice for huge stretches of the album.

Now that I've got one listen of it in the books I'm gonna go back with reset expectations and give it another go.
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Do yourself a favour and watch the short film, if you haven't done so already. For me that's when it all clicked.
 
roger said:
Huge National fan and on first listen I gotta say I'm not enamored with this album. I feel like its a little unfocused/overlong and has too many vocal guest features for my tastes, feels less like a National album and more like a side project. I found it jarring to not hear berninger's voice for huge stretches of the album.

Now that I've got one listen of it in the books I'm gonna go back with reset expectations and give it another go.
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I'll be honest it took me a couple of times through...but I wouldn't reset your expectations. They should have been and should remain high. It just took some proactive and repeated listening for it to really get under my skin and now it's there for good. I love the thing.
 
whoisbeck said:
Oooooh I disagree. I think the moment he comes in and the energy he brings in at that moment is SO good, it would be a waste to overuse that.
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sjaygray said:
I fully align with this opinion. I love the contrast of his voice with the guest vocalists. It also really gels with the theme of the album/film. I love this thing so much.
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That also happens in “The Pull of You” around 1:25 when the spoken word part is over. Matt comes in with an “Alligator-esque” vocal out of nowhere. It adds to the song nicely. Same with “Where is Her Head”
 
haydee said:
You can have my sticker, if it will make you happy and you're willing to wait for it to traverse the Atlantic Ocean.
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That's very kind of you thank you, but I've had my strop and made my peace with it 🙃
(Thank you for the offer though 😊)
 
Yeah....So one of my measures of an album (maybe it's weird), is how much it makes me want to listen to their older records. This actually works two ways....sometimes it's because it makes me yearn for previous glory, others it's because it makes me fall in love with the band all over again. This album is in the latter category. I really like this album. The National are a band that I go away from for a while, but when they release a new album...all other music other than their's disappears. This happened with SWB as well. I can't get enough of this album, and when I turn it off, I'm throwing on Boxer or HV, or TWFM, or Alligator, or SWB, etc....

It's probably not my favorite National album, but....
 
the last couple of National albums have drifted up to (and over) the hour mark in duration which I start to struggle with a little, it gets harder to hold an album as a whole in my head the longer it gets. Not sure what I’d cut though.

In other comments, Gail Ann Dorsey’s voice is perfect for The National.
 
During the female chorus part of "Not in Kansas" does anybody else start singing "
When a moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, thats amore"?
 
hamicle said:
the last couple of National albums have drifted up to (and over) the hour mark in duration which I start to struggle with a little, it gets harder to hold an album as a whole in my head the longer it gets. Not sure what I’d cut though.

In other comments, Gail Ann Dorsey’s voice is perfect for The National.
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I think an over an hour older National album would feel like a drag but the inclusion of different voices gives it a nice break from the typical sound, reengages the listener
 
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