Category Archives: The National

Album Review: The National

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The National -‘Trouble Will Find Me.’ (4AD)

For whatever reason, I seemed to be about the only person who couldn’t connect with The National’s last album, High Violet. So it is with delight that I can announce that I have well and truly fallen in love with Trouble Will Find Me.

In fact, you know you’re onto a good thing with an album when you want to play the album again before you’ve even finished it. I’ve got a whole heap of albums to work through, and this album tempts me : ‘they can wait another day. Enjoy me again.’

‘Demons’ is the first track from the album to do the rounds, but it’s one of many excellent tracks on here, like the opener ‘I Should Live In Salt’ and ‘Fireproof.’ The whole album is sublime, and in fact, I knew I was falling for it when I kept trying to find negatives to balance the review…To hell with it. Superb, sublime and even when it’s melancholy, it’s not drag-you-down depressing.

So, a major thumbs-up from me. Go and check it out.

****

Trouble Will Find Me is released by 4AD on May 20.

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Yet again…lots of brilliant music coming my way and I’m trying to get through it all! I’ve already heard at least thirty new albums this year, and still haven’t had time to write reviews for them all (in some cases, because I won’t get back the time required to advise people, constructively, that it’s not worth their time or money either). But three things that are most definitely floating my boat.

First up are 4AD’s The National, who will be releasing their new single ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’ in May. This might be one of my favourite tracks so far this year. This is the first track to come from their forthcoming album High Violet and you can download it for free by going here:

Download ‘High Violet’ by the National here!

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Meanwhile, the New Pornographers, the Vancouver -based supergroup that includes A.C. Newman and Neko Case have just released an excellent track called ‘Crash years’ which can be downloaded from iTunes (not on eMusic when I checked two minutes ago). You can hear the track on their facebook page here. this is taken from their forthcoming fifth album Together.

Last, but most definitely not least, Teenage Fanclub are due to return with their first new album in five years at the end of May, entitled Shadows, to be released on May 31. This year will mark twenty years since the release of theirseminal debut single ‘Everything Flows’ and the attendant debut A Catholic Education.

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The tracklisting for the album is as follows:

1. Sometimes I Don’t Need To Believe In Anything
2. Baby Lee
3. The Fall
4. Into The City
5. Dark Clouds
6. The Past
7. Shock And Awe
8. When I Still Have Thee
9. Live With The Seasons
10. Sweet Days Waiting
11. The Back Of My Mind
12. Today Never Ends

Hear ‘Baby Lee’ here on Soundcloud.