In Stores Now: High Violet by the National

Cover illustration from Changing Times, Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, March 1969

With their new album, High Violet, the National have gone from creating haunting tunes to sounding positively haunted. With 2005's Alligator and 2007's Boxer, these dapper dot-com depressives have given us two great albums of urban ennui, paranoia, and sociopathy, but this time around, things are getting a little more metaphysical. And the band isn't bashful about showing that they're trying something a little different - High Violet's opening track, "Terrible Love", is the album's biggest sonic departure from previous National songs. Slathered with cavernous reverb, Matt Berninger's voice is the middle of a maelstrom of sound - for those familiar with live versions of the song, this production dampens some of the songs impact and drama, but there's no denying that it sets the mood for the record. At its crescendo, "Terrible Love" features a high, keening backing vocal that contributes to the ghostly vibe - these vocals, contributed largely (I'd guess) by Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, are one of the most prominent new elements on High Violet, and they work well with the National sound once you get used to it.

"Terrible Love" is the gateway, and the four songs that follow it are the garden path. The album's second track, "Sorrow", is easy National-by-numbers, and it's followed by "Anyone's Ghost", a rhythm-heavy number that reminds me of Alligator's "Friend of Mine". After two decent slow-burners, this garden path takes us to the dark center of High Violet, a four-song sequence that is as good as anything the National has done.

These songs are perfect because they hit the form-and-function combination that make the National's music evocative and emotional for fans that are attuned to what they're doing, although I'll admit that it's not for everyone. "Bloodbuzz Ohio" is rousing and anthemic, even though Berninger never strays from his soporific crooning. "Lemonworld" combines a sprightly arrangement and somber sound to evoke a sense of nostalgia, and "Runaway" is the album's most epic track, loping gradually to a big finish. And this momentum carries into "Conversation 16", the album's best song, a midtempo number with an amazing melody and a funny/ruthless lyric about (metaphorical?) evil, brain-eating zombies.

This perfect run of songs ends with the overlong and undercooked "England", High Violet's one misfire, but the album ends strongly with the delicate "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks". The National have proven that they are craftsmen of song with their last two albums, but the "supernatural" touches on High Violet elevate the material to new levels. Like many artists that make visceral emotional connections with their listeners, they may not ever be able to make another album that can replace the favorite National album of existing fans, but the Natioanl may be able to connect with a lot of new ones with these songs.

"Bloodbuzz Ohio" by the National