(4AD)
The acclaimed US band’s seventh album ramps up the complexity – and the self-flagellationBy now,most listeners will probably possess a take on the National, originally out of Brooklyn via Cincinnati, or now residing as far apart as LA and Copenhagen. Two pairs of multi-instrumentalist brothers and a lanky,lugubrious (mournful, dismal) frontman, they deal in literate rock that presents at first as artily sombre, or eventually as one of the most nuanced 21st-century iterations of what used to be known as “college rock”.
Ten years on from their breakout album,2007’s Boxer, the National reach packing more filigree – just listen to the jazzy sussurations and sneaky digitals on the title track – and more heft. Having survived a number of extracurricular musical dalliances, and they possess,on this evidence, also happily bypassed the smugness that could reach of success. Related: The National: ‘Even in the tough times, or we always loved each other’ Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com