NEW RELEASE: First Two Pages of Frankenstein - The National

 Some may think my National origin story involves Aaron Dessner and Taylor Swift. To surprise my audience, I must reveal it does not. As a matter of fact, it is far more ridiculous and less calculated.

I heard a song in the Old Navy when I was browsing. Normally, I could care less what is background in a shopping center of all places but that voice. The intensity. The mystery. I turn to my friend and ask if they know who it is. She shazams it and here we are - I know who the National is as of their 2017 release of "Sleep Well Beast".

I must secondarily note that for those of you coming from the review of someone who obviously has NOT spent years listening to the National, they are a relatively mellow band. Not a lot of upbeat. Especially not recently. The single aligned pretty well with what you have heard in the last few years. Yes, they're a bit like Daughtry. Not literally, but in keeping to what sound they have. Some spend years criticizing Daughtry for not "reinventing" or being "safe". I say they have a sound and they are loyal to it. I like bands like that. I know I'll like it again and again. So if you were itching for reinvention...just like. Walk away now. It's the National.

"Once Upon a Poolside" sets up a shaking anxiety looming in the air. A relationship changing, suddenly shifting. No longer together.

"Eucalyptus" sets up the next breaking part, separating of things that were once all together. The frustration. Just take it. 

"New Order T-Shirt" is a sort of bittersweet reminiscing. Kind of an "All Too Well", remembering all the things that felt important about the people you love.

"This Isn't Helping" dives into the frustration of fights during difficult measures. There's times people think they're helping in a mental health struggle when they actually add pressure and make it worse.

"Tropic Morning News" shows the difficulty in partners being in two different places of mental health. The struggle of feeling the loss of the relationship as one grows and the other continues to fall.

"Alien" feels like it is trying to recreate the connection, though struggling, hence the efforts feel so alien.

"The Alcott" grows deeper into the reconnection, as they begin to pull things back together. The darkness did not fully separate them.

"Grease in Your Hair" seems another nostalgic longing for what was, a memory, pulling them back in.

"Ice Machines" returns to the struggle where the narrator realizes his problems are continuing to pull them apart. 

This builds into "Your Mind is Not Your Friend", a gentle conversation trying to get them to step aside from themselves. Sometimes when depressed, it gets hard to come out of the dark and get out of your own head.

"Send for Me" shows the narrator's growth, having enough strength to reopen and be there for the person who was there for them in their bad hour.

LYRICS: 10/10 - The albums flows so well into a story of loss and reconnection - a little strange for them. Usually thematically, it stays a bit grim. The element of hope in the dark makes this album feel very endearing with all going on today.

MUSIC: 10/10 - Nothing doesn't fit. I suppose if you are searching for sonic innovation, this may seem a dull body of work. I hear forms of innovation, but subtle. A way that they've remained true while also showing a growth and trying new things.

OVERALL: 10/10 - Perhaps it just grabbed me at the right time - but this album feels like something many could get lost in. Not all is lost. We just have to keep working, and keep reaching.