The
National is not a band that has matured. It's a band that is mature. And a
quality often associated with boring has actually never sounded more vibrant
and alive. The slow burn of Matt Berninger's baritone, the tension he is
able to convey with one-liners that sting and then stick, could easily be
overlooked. But when you pay attention, the gravity of these stories – overlaid
with expansive, all-encompassing guitars, ever-present percussion and well-thought
out melodies – knocks you down like a bottle of bourbon. Highlights include the
gradual build of “Humiliation,” a five-minute song that ends with a minute-long
tangent so beautiful, so different from how it began, that it’s hard to imagine
how The National laced it all together so neatly. The gentle freak-out of “Sea
of Love” is a reminder that calculated refinement is not a curse, but a
blessing.
I wrote this for LEO Weekly.
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