AMS Album of the Week 19

The National are a band who have transcended modern music trends. They first came to prominence with the glut of “post-punk revival” indie bands in the mid-2000s. That scene died years ago, but The National rose from the ashes, and have continued to rise and rise. Their last album, High Violet, saw them getting top billing at some of the biggest festivals in the world and it’s a position they richly desevred. Whilst their peers desperately tried to cling to past glories by claiming their new album was “just like the first one” (Interpol) or radically changed their style all the time hoping something would stick (Bloc Party) or just gave up completely (Franz Ferdinand), The National have calmly gone about writing great music that comes naturally. The new record, Trouble Will Find Me, is a perfect extension of that. It’s truly gorgeous, and should cement the National’s place at the top of modern indie rock.

This is the sound of a band working in perfect harmony. Every member is having an absolute stormer. Each song seems like a unified vision with every instrument having its part to play. It meshes together beautifully. For example, the adorable guitar part repeated through ‘I Need My Girl’ is enough to cement the track as fantastic even without the beautiful lyrics and Matt’s perfect baritone, and after that you’ve still got a rhythm section doing everything right. It’s rare for me to use the repeat one function on my iTunes, but this song had that for a good hour or two the other night. I suppose it’s also rare for me to listen to one album over and over again, but you know, it’s rare for anything to be this good. This is the most fully formed a National album has ever been, and that’s coming from a huge National fan (as you may have worked out…). I can see why some people might not like this, it’s not the most diverse record and if you don’t dig the sound you might be asking them to switch it up. The thing is, most of my favourite albums aren’t very diverse, the very best records don’t need to be. When you’ve absolutely nailed a sound, as the National have here, 55 minutes of it doesn’t feel samey, it feels immersive, and this album is one I could (and will) keep myself fully immersed in for a good while yet.