Remember when you were watching Warrior with Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy? (If you haven’t seen it, go rent it!) Fast forward to the end scene, the brothers have all but finished their ‘fight to the death: MMA style.’ This song played in the background, a great song, a hard to forget song called “About Today” from The National’s 2004 release Cherry Tree. Cherry Tree was among the first EP’s to be released by The National, followed by the moderately successful Alligator. This band had its first real taste of fame with the 2007 release Boxer, which eventually rose to 67 on The Billboard 200. After Boxer, The National released the critically acclaimed High Violets in 2010. The National is Matt Berninger (vocals), twins Aaron (guitar and keyboards) and Brian Dessner (guitar) and Scott (bass) and Bryan Devendorf (drums). If you are unfamiliar with these guys, think Joy Division meets Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds with a little Leonard Cohen thrown in for funsies.
There are a couple of things about this band that really stand out. First of all, baritone vocalist Matt Berninger's voice is both warm and silky, a combination that causes the listener to want to understand the lyrics of each song because Berninger's voice conveys such a sense of melancholy longing in most of the songs. The other thing that really stands out is the complex riffs and beats in many of their songs. “Fake Empire” off of Boxer is a perfect example. The syncopation between the piano and Berninger’s voice is complex and interesting…almost discordant… until the drums kick in adding the resolve necessary to tie the song together for the perfect aural experience.
Trouble Will Find Me, The National’s newest studio release, is expected to hit shelves this coming Tuesday (21 May). As with previous albums, this one does not disappoint. The first track “I Should Live in Salt” is the story of a man who is seemingly plagued by memories of things that went wrong (all the should-have’s) in a relationship he broke off. “Demons,” a complex and somewhat anxious piece written in an unconventional time signature, seems to be about the band’s struggle to come to grips with their newfound fame, choosing instead to ‘stay down with my demons.’ “Don’t Swallow the Cap” swings to the opposite end of the spectrum. Having begrudgingly acknowledged their new ‘in’ status, the band ponders what the other side of that might look like: the eventual fall from grace, or in this case, listener popularity. This album, driven by sometimes eerie rhythms, great melodic riffs, mild syncopation, and the trademark Berninger ‘butter voice’ lives up to and exceeds past albums, showing us that The National are here to stay and reminding us that, as is true for all of us eventually, Trouble Will Find Me.
*For a limited time, you don't have to wait to hear this album. Our friends at iTunes have released an option to pre-screen it. Just search iTunes for The National and click ‘listen' on The Trouble Will Find Me album cover icon.
