Another Form of Relief

The National are parked in a strange place of my music collection. Alligator is one of the best albums (as a whole) that I own, their songs are uniformly excellent and the vocals get me every time. Despite all of this though, I don’t like them as much as a lot of other bands who aren’t really as good. I only own the one album, and despite it’s greatness, have no real desire to hear much more. I know that to a certain degree I’m missing something here, and yet something holds me back. All that said, here’s Murder Me Rachael from their 2003 album, Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers. It’s the only song from it that I know. Maybe I should discover the rest.

The National are one of those bands that sneak up on you from nowhere. I paid them little attention a couple of years ago, even when people were raving about their 2005 album Alligator. Sure, I liked it, but after the first few plays, I put it on my shelf and thought I was done with it. Then sometime last year I started listening to it again. Just occasionally at first, but then more regularly, to the point where I was listening to it daily for a good few weeks. I don’t play it quite that often anymore, but it’s probably one of the best albums I own, even if I’d never put it on a favourite list.

In a couple of months, the band will release Boxer. I have no idea how they will be able to surpass or even match Alligator, but if the opening track from the album is any indication, we could be in for something special. ‘Fake Empire’ starts unassumingly enough, just a gentle piano while Matt Berninger drones about life within the “fake empire”. The political sentiment behind this concept is obvious, so we’ll leave that element aside for now. Around halfway through the song, a flourish of instrumentation enters the proceedings, continue to swell until finally even horns have entered the mix before drawing to a close all too quickly.

When I woke up this morning, the fact that The National were releasing a new album was something of interest, but little more. Now it’s probably the upcoming release that I’m anticipating most. As a song by itself, ‘Fake Empire’ feels somewhat incomplete; as a teaser for the album though, it’s perfect.

MP3 The National – Fake Empire (expired)

The National will be making one stop in the UK, with a live date at the Astoria in London the day Boxer will be released on May 22 via Beggars Banquet. In the meantime, here are some older songs by The National for your enjoyment:

MP3 The National – All The Wine (expired) (Alligator, 2005)
MP3 The National – Murder Me Rachael (expired) (Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, 2003)

The National: Website || Myspace