The National return with a glitchy, urgent tune.
Since The National’s last album, Sleep Well Beast, came out less than two years ago, no one was expecting to hear from them again for a while. But this week, the band announced their eighth studio album, I Am Easy To Find, with the excellent, fitful “You Had Your Soul With You.”
Like all of The National’s best songs, it’s infused with a sense of anxiety, but also brings melodies that lower the pressure. With an electronic twitch woven throughout the track, the Dessner brothers deliver a feather-light touch with the guitar verses. Matt Berninger sings desperately, “I had only one thing to do and I couldn’t do it yet,” as Bryan Devendorf proves again why he’s one of the best drummers in music today. And to top it all off, an emotional guest vocal by bassist and David Bowie collaborator Gail Ann Dorsey. It may have been a short break, but it’s good to have The National back.
I Am Easy To Find is due on May 17 via 4AD.