The National is currently touring. And their fifth studio album High Violet should please anyone who got into Bon Iver’s For Emma and Noah and the Whale’s The First Days of Spring.
The key difference between these three bands is that The National’s High Violet wasn’t intended to be an album about break-ups and love lost. The National said its original concept had been to produce something “happy,†but the first idea was quickly thrown out the window. Instead, they went in the opposite direction.
Do you have to be nursing a broken heart to enjoy High Violet?
No.
The songs on High Violet are full of atmosphere, they’re as lyrically rich as they are twisted, and they have an undeniable cinematic quality. In “Conversation 16†the imagery flows from scene to scene:
Meet our friends out for dinner
When I said what I said I didn’t mean anything
We belong in a movie
Try to hold it together till our friends are gone
We should swim in a fountain
Do not want to disappoint anyone
Other tracks like “Anyone’s Ghost†hit you right in the center, but in a good way that has you repeating, “I don’t want anybody else.â€
The National – ‘Anyone’s Ghost’ Castle Rock session
And if nothing else can be said for The National, front man Matt Berninger’s rich baritone is a devastatingly hypnotic listen. Catch them as they pass through Oklahoma.
The National play Cain’s Ballroom April 19th. Doors open at 7 p.m. Advance tickets are $31.00. Tickets at the door are $33.00.
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