High Violet

High Violet, the new full-length record by the National, is a nervy, melodic, explosive and beautiful set of songs that find the band at the height of their collaborative powers. The music is wide-ranging in its moods, by turns intimate and rough, expansive and spare, full of stark angles and atmosphere. Berninger's singing wild, half-broken, sly evokes a feeling of being haunted, by love, by paranoia, by something just out of reach. High Violet may be The National's most thematically twisted record to date but it somehow also manages to be their most infectious and immediate. read more..

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Misery never sounded so beautiful! by Nse Ette
What an absolutely beautiful album this is. I first came across The National last year on the compilation album Dark Was the Night where they contributed the lovely "So far around the bend". Lead singer Matt Berninger's doleful baritone perfectly suits these soothing songs comprising jangly guitars, tinkling pianos, warbling hypnotic effects, orchestral embellishments, and a retro feel.



Opening is the fuzzy Folk of "Terrible love". "Anyone's ghost" is an absolutely brilliant Rockabilly-inflected song Chris Isaak would kill for. The chiming "Little faith" is a delicate thing with lightly military beats, while lead-off single "Bloodbuzz Ohio" is upbeat and still manages to be beautifully gloomy.



Everything is brilliant really, but the ballads really stand out; "Afraid of everyone" (with ghostly harmonies and ending on a nervy note), the acoustic string-swathed "Runaway" (with Berninger crooning "We don't bleed when we don't fight / Go ahead, go ahead / Throw your arms in the air tonight"), the spectacular "Conversation 16" (creepy sounding with reverbing/haunting effects, my absolute favourite), to the gentle piano-driven "England" (which builds to a euphoric climax).



They remind me of so many of my favourite acts; Editors, Interpol, Arcade Fire, and even Morrissey. Definitely one of the best albums of the year, which should see them getting even bigger than they are now.