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Sound Bite: The National

By Christopher Robinson

May 10, 2010 8:44 p.m.

In the fast-paced world of music criticism, where the blogosphere fuels hype and backlash all before an album is even officially released, The National is pulling off an incredible feat. Instead of blowing up and becoming an overnight success story, it’s spent its entire career bypassing the machine and slowly building a large and dedicated fan base with albums that resist knee-jerk judgments and actually reward repeated listens.

Let’s make no bones about this and get straight to the point: With “High Violet,” The National has just set the bar for album of the year, and it’s set it very high. The album is a gripping, textured masterpiece from a band that already has two masterpieces to its name ““ 2005’s “Alligator” and 2007’s “Boxer.” The fifth album from the Brooklyn quintet has been feverishly anticipated by fans and has also made them cautiously apprehensive, as quiet fears of a fall from grace ran deep.

“High Violet” represents no such thing. The band has returned triumphantly, offering another record filled with fantastic songwriting and subtle arrangements that reveal new treasures with each subsequent listen. You’ll discover things on your 10th listen that you didn’t hear on your first, and maybe even on your 50th listen that you didn’t notice on your 10th.

The record’s layers peel back slowly, demanding that you pay careful attention to the unfolding and morphing textures, whether it’s a languishing piano progression, the carefully interlocking guitars courtesy of the Dessner brothers Aaron and Bryce, or the rhythmic momentum provided by the deftly skilled rhythm section of the Devendorf brothers Scott and Bryan. The arrangements have a sweeping grandeur, often including any combination of vocal choirs, swelling string quartets and entire horn sections. It all adds up to an album with an incredible emotional sweep that seemed reserved for the likes of Radiohead and Arcade Fire.

Like the undeniable sense of musical awareness of the band members and the carefully plotted musical arrangements, lead singer Matt Berninger’s lyrics reveal an emotional depth that is almost unrivaled in contemporary music. As his weary baritone evokes Ian Curtis of Joy Division, Berninger sings lyrics that express emotions poignantly without falling into a flimsy poetic narrative. Take the chorus to first single “Bloodbuzz Ohio” as a prime example. The lyrics, “I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees / I never married but Ohio don’t remember me,” reveal a sense of loss and loneliness better than any straightforward expression of displacement could.

Also from first single “Bloodbuzz Ohio” is a line that is bursting with relevance, highlighting the stresses of living in an American economy that has proven itself to be anything but recession-proof since 2007: “I still owe money to the money to the money I owe.” Simple lyrical tricks like these are not only topical but also resonate with such intensity that any questions of authenticity or sincerity are thrown out the window without hesitation. Berninger’s smooth baritone even allows him to get away with such cliches as “I don’t want to get over you,” turning such a faux pas into a moment bursting with heartbreak and tenderness.

The National isn’t just creating great songs here ““ it’s constructing sonic monuments that slowly build to epic conclusions, creating a rhythmic tension-and-release with an impact that feels borrowed from the orchestral magnificence of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Explosions in the Sky. The two best examples of this on “High Violet” are “Conversation 16″ and the album’s best track, “Runaway.” The former presents a deeply disturbing moment of epiphany for the narrator, as Berninger sings, “I was afraid I would eat your brains / ’cause I’m evil” with spine-tingling candidness. The latter builds to a cathartic crescendo of guitars, drums, strings and horns as Berninger provides heart-wrenching lyrics about the anxieties of relationships, including my personal favorite line, “We don’t bleed when we don’t fight / go ahead, go ahead / throw your arms in the air tonight.”

I’ve tried really hard to find something wrong with this album, and I think I finally found something to complain about: “High Violet” is going to make all those questions over whether “Boxer” or “Alligator” is the bestter National album all the more impossible to answer.

E-mail Robinson at [email protected].

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