The National - Trouble Will Find Me

i revisited sleep well beast today and that was the sequence that really stood out to me so i'm really glad they went further in that direction this time. "the system only dreams in total darkness" is one of their absolute bests and "dark side of the gym" is a really lovely melody too. the rest of the album is just fine except "turtleneck" yeah, and the title track feels like a dry run for some of the more abstract parts of the new album but those highs are all wonderful.

i'll stan for carin at the liquor store

oof, i love the orchestration on this but the way they've done the vocals (and, frankly, the melodies) makes it feel like a second-rate attempt at what Young Galaxy do so well

wait, young galaxy?

"the pull of you" is absolutely perfect

first testament was really great
the sequel was incredible
like the godfathers or the first two strokes
every document's indelible

"not in kansas" -> "so far so fast" are like the two best national songs ever, right in a row

and "oblivions" is the kind of song only they could write

There's some lovely stuff on this record. I don't know if it is their best album, but on first listen there is nothing that stands out as a reason why it couldn't be.

Man, "Not In Kansas." It's been ... I don't know how long since I heard a song that made me want to focus on and figure out its lyrics so badly.

when "Rylan starts, I sing, "Got my mind SET. ON. YOU."

i like the "flowers of guatamala" reference ("the flowers cover over everything") a couple of verses after "i'm listening to r.e.m. again"

The contemporary classical bent of whichever one of the brothers is into that stuff really pays off on this album's arrangements.

this is so long and so unified in its approach that I'm having a hard time parsing individual songs as opposed to a constantly alternating set of peaks and valleys. which I guess for some will be sort of an apotheosis of Their Thing but I'm not really finding any points of entry beyond a few standout ideas here and there. "You Had Your Soul With You" had me hoping this wouldn't be the case. (as always I reserve the right to change my mind later lol)

like, there are a ton of sonic ideas here but all of them are incorporated into every single track, y'know? relax!!

Brad, you are getting me very excited about this new album. it's not on Spotify until Friday however.

They're the most intricately boring band I've ever heard.

"you had your soul with you" is absolutely their best track ever

simon i have a feeling you’ll like this the more you spend time with it. it wasn’t billed as a double album but it works like one: the songs talk to each other, and it works itself into weird subspaces. oddly i think watching the movie is a way in too, it enriches specific lyrics

i will say the album is more ballad-forward than i expected or hoped but i’ve already adjusted

yeah same

the only real dud for me is Rylan which i know is apparently a fan favourite because it's been floating around for 8 years or something but it's still them at their most middle-of-the-road even though the arrangement is a lot better than it would have been a decade ago

I think the album is a bundle of good contradictions. It's not really a double album but feels like one, it's ballad heavy but not necessarily chill, it's got some of Matt's best lyrics and singing but he often takes a back seat to other singers and singing, it's got some pretty jarring experimental elements but it's totally MOR. And so on.

Oh, and needless to say, the drumming is incredible.

i love every lyric and sound in "quiet light"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S37thEwlWPA

good performance of "you had your soul with you", with string section and second drummer (no gail ann dorsey though)

learning how not to cry every time there's another sad unbearable morning
but sometimes there's nothing i can do
i can't help it

the drumming on "quiet light" is brilliant, bryan devendorf seems to get better with every album somehow

So these guys are definitely going all-in on everything - strings, singers, horns, etc. - for this tour?

they've had a horn section forever but idk whether the strings etc. are sticking around for the tour or are only around for the run of album/film premiere dates they've been doing over the last month

wow i REALLY love this album

https://www.nme.com/news/national-rockier-songs-leftover-may-get-freezer-2488317

apparently they've got a bunch of rockier material left over from the Sleep Well Beast sessions that didn't make this album either since it didn't fit the mood of the film etc. so i hope that'll be more "the system only dreams"/"you had your soul with you" than "turtleneck" whenever it sees the light of day

The contemporary classical bent of whichever one of the brothers is into that stuff really pays off on this album's arrangements.

That is Bryce! His own chamber music is def worth checking out

it's the way that you're going to stop needing to tell me you want me as much as i want you to

Their best album.

yep

I've never top tenned one of their albums before.

me neither, and it usually takes me a while to figure out how i feel about them, cf. the album this thread is named after

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbXnnn8z1tE

i get why people would dismiss "rylan," feels like it's borrowed most of its rumble from "apartment story" to create the most national national song ever, but... it's so catchy

I just thought of perfect "feat. female guest singer" example that kind of pulls off what this album does: "My Curse," by fellow (can it be a coincidence?) Cincinnati sons Afghan Whigs.

Also, maybe "You're Still Standing There" by Steve Earle, when previously more or less AWOL Lucinda Williams suddenly pops up.

I didn't realize that the album was made in such close collaboration with Mike Mills, who even produced. Has he produced anything else?

Marcy Mays on "My Curse" feels to me like much more direct and successful attempt at a counterpoint/perspective change than anything here.

anyway I can already tell this is going to be yet another one of those albums where I stick to listening to my own resequence/edit and get a lot more out of it that way

i made a thread: thread for i am easy to find, the 2019 album by the national and film by mike mills

There are lots of candidates, but this really is the best album by them, isn't it? So sad and pretty.

it is

This is by far my favourite album of theirs. There's real sadness but also exaggerated sadness (played for humour, I think?), similar to what Tindersticks used to do. It's a perfect balance that they haven't managed to duplicate since.