I’ve been a big fan of The National for a few years now, so while I was excited about the upcoming album, I was a little worried that it was going to be, for lack of a better word, boring. The National can take on many styles and tempos, but I felt like they’ve been going towards that really slowed down style, and hoped that there would be some more variety on this new album. They’ve really taken to working on the instrumentation in their songs, which is always great, but I’m just hoping it doesn’t turn things into a snooze-fest. Let’s find out.

1. Terrible Love – Just like on “Boxer”, this album starts with a slower song, but it’s nice. Sounds a bit fuzzy, but not sure if that’s just my headphones. Wondering if it will pick up like “Fake Empire” does. YES, it just did. Really quick drum beat, great vocal harmonies in the chorus. Ok, I liked this one a lot more than I expected to when it first started.

2. Sorrow – Much more upbeat start than the first song. This one sounds much clearer as well, so I guess the fuzz of track 1 was intentional. Instrumentation is extremely warm. It’s a song that could have been a straight up slow song too so it’s nice to have the consistent double time drum beat. Sounds like a choir just chimed in. Nice song.

3. Anyone’s Ghost – Now that’s more like it. I feel like the National does dark songs and bright songs really well. This is the first taste of the darker side of the band. The drum beat sounds distinctly National-esque. Really unusual chord changes at times. I think I prefer the darker National, so that is right up my alley.

4. Little Faith – Something a little electronic in the intro. Didn’t expect that at all. Again, really nice layers and instrumentation. And again, the drums really keep the song pushing forward where the vocals are a bit slower. It does pick up a bit at the end, but overall I didn’t think this one was very memorable.

5. Afraid of Everyone – One of two songs on the album I’d already heard. Dark and mysterious, just how I like the National best. It’s maybe the highest notes we’ve heard from famously deep-voiced singer Matt Berninger. I think I hear a clarinet in there somewhere. For some reason this song reminds me of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”. Even as dark as this song sounds, the music is still full and somewhat warm. My favorite song so far, but it might just be because I’ve already heard it a few times.

6. Bloodbuzz Ohio – Here’s the other song that I’ve heard quite a bit. While this one has been growing on me a little bit, this is sort of what prompted me to form my notion that this album could be a bit “boring”. Sure, it sounds nice and all, but I just feel like it stays the same throughout the entire song. It is somewhat of a nice contrast, however, coming right after the dark “Afraid of Everyone”.

7. Lemonworld – I like the intro. It sounds familiar but fresh. Musically it reminds me a lot of “Mistaken for Strangers” and I’m OK with that. I’m sensing a bit of a buildup in the works. Really subtle violin in the background. Didn’t build up as much as I expected it to, but it did become a lot warmer as it went on. Not a bad tune.

8. Runaway – Slower tune. Actually I feel like I’ve heard this one a long time ago as well. Maybe they played it when I saw them last summer? And I remember it being a bit of a yawner back then too. The horns really fill up the space nicely, but I personally just can’t always get into tracks like this.

9. Conversation 16 – A refreshing start after that last tune. I do like when it gets a little brighter in the second half of the song. Although I’m pretty sure he just sang, “I was afraid I’d eat your brains ‘cause I’m evil.” It’s an interesting contrast to have these really morbid lyrics sung over such pretty music. But yeah, I’m digging this song a LOT.

10. England – Cool piano intro, I like the chord progression. Sort of unexpected. Interested to see where this one goes. And so far it hasn’t really gone anywhere, but there’s still time. Ok, there’s definitely a buildup happening right now. Better. This might be the loudest point on the album. Even so, I feel like it never gets as far as it could go.

11. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks – Another slow jam to close out the album. It’s nice to listen to, but it’s just not very memorable. Another quasi-buildup that doesn’t seem to really go anywhere.

So let’s summarize. It’s definitely a really good album. Musically, it’s full of depth and layers and from what I picked up lyrically, it’s not bad, although a bit more abstract that I’m used to from the National (I tend to prefer their straightforward lyrics, a la “Karen”). I really liked the darker tunes in this album, and I liked some of the brighter tunes. But some of the brighter songs, while the instrumentation was really nice, sounded kind of generic to me. It’s almost as if the songs I didn’t really care for on Boxer added in some strings and horns and tried to pass themselves off as new, but I still think that those songs are well written and produced, just not my style.. Ok, that probably sounds a lot harsher than how I mean it. As of right now I like it, but don’t love it, but I’m actually pretty sure that will change after a few more plays on the ole ipod.

The National – Anyone’s Ghost (removed by request)

Here’s “Afraid of Everyone” as we were asked to remove “Anyone’s Ghost”

05 Afraid of Everyone by user6556083