Throughout your life you find albums that remain with you forever. 'High Violet' is one of those albums. Like a fine wine, 'High Violet' gets better with sentence and each listen. Full of hidden treasures waiting to be discovered, The National's latest release similar to their previous records is good of vignettes about the everyday lives of everyday folks layered with intelligent, metaphorical lyrics above driving beats, basslines and guitars. 
Left-right (Bryce Dessner, Bryan Devendorf, Matt Berninger, Scott Devendorf and Aaron Dessner)
From the real first The National proved they were worthy of comparisons to Leonard Cohen, the lord of gloom and Alt rockers REM but never more so than the song, 'Sorrow'. "Sorrow found me when i was young, sorrow waited sorrow won." According to Matt Berninger, singer and lyricist, 'Sorrow' is almost a persons own relationship with their sorrow- a relationship that should be celebrated. A matter that most artists would shy away from but is broadcast out through High Violet, an album that does keep the night and the great because after all, these are the emotions that connect us all, everyone feels these things: sorrow, disappointment, fear and anxiety.
Becoming a mother seems to make merely heightened these emotions for Berninger, or rather his consciousness of them. In 'Afraid of Everyone', over the eerie harmonies of fellow indie rocker Sufjan Stevens and the pensive harmonium of Padma Newsome, Berninger croons "with my kid on my shoulders i'll try not to hurt anybodyI like, butI don't take the drugs to separate it out.i'm afraid of everyone."
Now 10 years since their formation, it seems impossible for the ring to produce a bad record. They've marked themselves out from the resistance and blog-o-sphere where they dwelled for years. It was in 1991 when Matt Berninger met bassist Scott Devendorf at the University of Cincinatti where they were both studying graphic design. Together they affected to New York in hunting of work.
Bryan, Scott's brother, was friends with the Dessner twins and had already been in several bandswith themwhen, in 1999 the 3 joined Matt and Scott from their hometown of Cincinatti, Ohio and formed The National.
This association with Ohio is alluded in the low single taken from the album, 'Bloodbuzz Ohio'. With bombastic drumming from Bryan Devendorf and swelling orchestration via The Clogs' aforementioned Padma Newsome, 'Bloodbuzz' is one of the closest things The National haveproduced to a pop song however, even this call is a richly, brooding song that delves into the character's insecurities;isolation is the idea that drives the song forward. Like each extremity of The National, this character lives in a big city, it could be New York, it could be not, butwhile visiting friends and class in the townspeople they grew up in- they realize that it doesn't look like home anymore, but then neither does the city they exist in. Troubled with money woes, "I still owe money to the money, to the moneyI owe" the character feels more lonely and isolated than ever before, "I never thinking about love when i thinking about place" he sings in the chorus.
His demand for flight is explicit in the sexy, sleek 'Lemonworld'. Full of melodrama and mystery he is stuck in afabricated, fictionalworld with two sexy sisters who get drunk and wear bathing suits all day. Lemonworld's protagonist desparately tries to remain afloat in his middleclass, suburban life eventually end up in a tug-of-war between sanity andreality.
Despite the sinister and iniquity of their songs, The Interior still care to add subtle hints of humour. Dark humour it may be, but humour nonetheless. In 'Conversation 16' Matt Berninger tells his wife that "I was afraid i'd eat your brains, coz i'm evil", and that he has his, "head in the oven so you love where i'll be."
Similarly the epic 'England' full of huge illuminating horn arrangements and orchestration compliments the fatigue and tired sound of arguably The National's most recognisable quality, Matt Berninger's low, rumbling baritone as he dwells on the devotee who is living overseas, "you must be somewhere in London, you must be loving your living in the rain" he sings while heremains "in a Los Angeles cathedral" contemplating the simple geography that keeps them apart. Berninger has the amazing power to go deeply offended and containemotional depth in his part that many other frontmen can but want of obtaining. Thelover is lefthelpless and frustrated against the geography and sea that keeps them apart, heartbroken he sings, "someone send a runner through the weather that i'm under for the opinion that I lost today, someone send a runner for the impression that I lost today."
It will arrive as no surprise then to anyone who has listened topast albums of The National's such asSad Songs for Dirty Lovers, angst filledAlligator or 2007's masterpiece Boxer that High Violet is not a light listen that is now embedded into the judgment but instead a pernicious and sincere record that over time gently begins to take a place in your heart. About a twelvemonth since it's release and High Violet still proves to be relevant. I still regularly play this album from begiing to end and am blown out because this album and these songs changed my spirit and the wayI think and feel about music. AsI said at the beginning, given the chance, this album could stop with you forever!
5*
(Also see Top 10 albums of 2010)
Track List:
1. Terrible Love
2. Sorrow
3. Anyone's Ghost
4. Little Faith
5. Afraid of Everyone
6. Bloodbuzz Ohio
7. Lemonworld
8. Runaway
9. Conversation 16
10. England
11. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks
Expanded Edition
- Terrible Love (Alternate Version)
- Wake Up Your Saints
- You Were A Kindness
- Walk Off
- Sin-Eaters
- Bloodbuzz Ohio (Live on The Current)
- Anyone's Ghost (Live at The Brooklyn Academy of Music)
- England (Live at The Brooklyn Academy of Music)
Every song is to some point an epic and sounds like the most important song that they could build until it finishes and the future one starts. Each song also contains heart. I'm not certain what the substance is exactly. It could be the abrasive guitar riffs via the Dessner twins, Aaron and Bryce. Maybe the understated basslines from Scott Devendorf or the pounding drums provided by his brother, Bryan. Perhaps it's the rich, sultry baritone of Matt Berninger that makes you wish to tread into this album and never return to the boring duties of daily living that are so perfectly soundtracked by The National.
From the real first The National proved they were worthy of comparisons to Leonard Cohen, the lord of gloom and Alt rockers REM but never more so than the song, 'Sorrow'. "Sorrow found me when i was young, sorrow waited sorrow won." According to Matt Berninger, singer and lyricist, 'Sorrow' is almost a persons own relationship with their sorrow- a relationship that should be celebrated. A matter that most artists would shy away from but is broadcast out through High Violet, an album that does keep the night and the great because after all, these are the emotions that connect us all, everyone feels these things: sorrow, disappointment, fear and anxiety.
Becoming a mother seems to make merely heightened these emotions for Berninger, or rather his consciousness of them. In 'Afraid of Everyone', over the eerie harmonies of fellow indie rocker Sufjan Stevens and the pensive harmonium of Padma Newsome, Berninger croons "with my kid on my shoulders i'll try not to hurt anybodyI like, butI don't take the drugs to separate it out.i'm afraid of everyone."
Now 10 years since their formation, it seems impossible for the ring to produce a bad record. They've marked themselves out from the resistance and blog-o-sphere where they dwelled for years. It was in 1991 when Matt Berninger met bassist Scott Devendorf at the University of Cincinatti where they were both studying graphic design. Together they affected to New York in hunting of work.
Bryan, Scott's brother, was friends with the Dessner twins and had already been in several bandswith themwhen, in 1999 the 3 joined Matt and Scott from their hometown of Cincinatti, Ohio and formed The National.
This association with Ohio is alluded in the low single taken from the album, 'Bloodbuzz Ohio'. With bombastic drumming from Bryan Devendorf and swelling orchestration via The Clogs' aforementioned Padma Newsome, 'Bloodbuzz' is one of the closest things The National haveproduced to a pop song however, even this call is a richly, brooding song that delves into the character's insecurities;isolation is the idea that drives the song forward. Like each extremity of The National, this character lives in a big city, it could be New York, it could be not, butwhile visiting friends and class in the townspeople they grew up in- they realize that it doesn't look like home anymore, but then neither does the city they exist in. Troubled with money woes, "I still owe money to the money, to the moneyI owe" the character feels more lonely and isolated than ever before, "I never thinking about love when i thinking about place" he sings in the chorus.
His demand for flight is explicit in the sexy, sleek 'Lemonworld'. Full of melodrama and mystery he is stuck in afabricated, fictionalworld with two sexy sisters who get drunk and wear bathing suits all day. Lemonworld's protagonist desparately tries to remain afloat in his middleclass, suburban life eventually end up in a tug-of-war between sanity andreality.
Despite the sinister and iniquity of their songs, The Interior still care to add subtle hints of humour. Dark humour it may be, but humour nonetheless. In 'Conversation 16' Matt Berninger tells his wife that "I was afraid i'd eat your brains, coz i'm evil", and that he has his, "head in the oven so you love where i'll be."
These fun and nonsense lyrics can get you off guard especially after hearing to songs likethe heart wrenching, 'Runaway' featuring the same fingerpicking patterns from Aaron and Bryce that were heard on Alligator and Boxer.
Similarly the epic 'England' full of huge illuminating horn arrangements and orchestration compliments the fatigue and tired sound of arguably The National's most recognisable quality, Matt Berninger's low, rumbling baritone as he dwells on the devotee who is living overseas, "you must be somewhere in London, you must be loving your living in the rain" he sings while heremains "in a Los Angeles cathedral" contemplating the simple geography that keeps them apart. Berninger has the amazing power to go deeply offended and containemotional depth in his part that many other frontmen can but want of obtaining. Thelover is lefthelpless and frustrated against the geography and sea that keeps them apart, heartbroken he sings, "someone send a runner through the weather that i'm under for the opinion that I lost today, someone send a runner for the impression that I lost today."
It will arrive as no surprise then to anyone who has listened topast albums of The National's such asSad Songs for Dirty Lovers, angst filledAlligator or 2007's masterpiece Boxer that High Violet is not a light listen that is now embedded into the judgment but instead a pernicious and sincere record that over time gently begins to take a place in your heart. About a twelvemonth since it's release and High Violet still proves to be relevant. I still regularly play this album from begiing to end and am blown out because this album and these songs changed my spirit and the wayI think and feel about music. AsI said at the beginning, given the chance, this album could stop with you forever!
5*
(Also see Top 10 albums of 2010)
Track List:
1. Terrible Love
2. Sorrow
3. Anyone's Ghost
4. Little Faith
5. Afraid of Everyone
6. Bloodbuzz Ohio
7. Lemonworld
8. Runaway
9. Conversation 16
10. England
11. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks
Expanded Edition
- Terrible Love (Alternate Version)
- Wake Up Your Saints
- You Were A Kindness
- Walk Off
- Sin-Eaters
- Bloodbuzz Ohio (Live on The Current)
- Anyone's Ghost (Live at The Brooklyn Academy of Music)
- England (Live at The Brooklyn Academy of Music)
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