The National bringer os deres niende album – First Two Pages of Frankenstein ude d. 28/4
I dag kan The National annoncere udgivelsen af deres niende studiealbum First Two Pages of Frankenstein, der udkommer d. 28. april 2023 på 4AD / Playground Music. Med stemningsfyldte melodier, et medrivende lyrisk narrativ og nogle mildest talt spændende samarbejder som anker, signalerer First Two Pages of Frankenstein et nyt kapitel i bandets katalog.
De 11 nye albumsange er produceret af The National i Long Pond Studios i upstate New York. Albummet indeholder gæsteoptrædener fra Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers og Sufjan Stevens.
Efter at have udgivet to album i rap, og flere år med intens turnéring, blev det kommende album i første omgang udsat mens forsanger Matt Berninger navigerede rundt i det han med egne ord kalder: “a very dark spot where I couldn’t come up with lyrics or melodies at all, and that period lasted for over a year. Even though we’d always been anxious and argued quite a lot whenever we were working on a record, this was the first time it ever felt like maybe things really had come to an end.”
Men i stedet lykkedes det The National at finde en vej igennem: “We managed to come back together and approach everything from a different angle, and because of that we arrived at what feels like a new era for the band,” forklarer guitarist og pianist Bryce Dessner, hvis bandkammerater også tæller broderen Aaron (guitar, piano, bas) såvel som brødrene Scott Devendorf (bas, guitar) og Bryan Devendorf (trommer).
På First Two Pages of Frankenstein bliver gruppens revitaliserede kemi kanaliseret ind i et værk, der balancerer elegant musikalitet med The Nationals mere idiosynkratiske impulser.
Sange som ’Grease in Your Hair’ og ‘Ice Machines’ blev testet på landevejen i 2022 inden de blev indspillet, hvilket gav bandet mulighed for at forme materialet i real tid (en anden sang, ’Weird Goodbyes’ feat. Bon Ivers Justin Vernon, blev udgivet som standalone single i august).
“To me the power of this record has to do with the intentionality and structure of the music meeting with a lot of accidental magic,” siger Aaron Dessner.
Sammen med dagens annoncering, udgiver bandet deres første single fra det kommende album. Sangen ’Tropic Morning News’ er til dels indspillet live i Hamborg.
“When Matt came in with that song in the depths of his depression, it felt like a turning point for us,” siger Aaron Dessner. “It’s almost Dylan-esque in its lyrics and it’s so much fun to play; everything suddenly felt like it was coming alive again.”
’Tropic Morning News’ er skrevet sammen med Berningers kone Carin Besser. Sangens titel er taget fra en frase Besser har opfundet til at beskrive den rutine vi desværre har fået ved at scrolle i evigheder på telefonen:
“The idea of referring to the darkness of the news in such a light way unlocked something in me,” fortæller Berninger. “It became a song about having a hard time expressing yourself, and trying to connect with someone when the noise of the world is drowning out any potential for conversation.”
Lyt til ‘Tropic Morning News’ her.
First Two Pages of Frankenstein track list:
Once Upon a Poolside
Eucalyptus
New Order T Shirt
This Isn’t Helping
Tropic Morning News
Alien
The Alcott feat. Taylor Swift
Grease in Your Hair
Ice Machines
Your Mind Is Not Your Friend
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