Album Review: The National – High Violet
May 10th sees Brooklyn-based band The National release their fifth album ‘High Violet’ on the back of the critical and commercial success of two previous albums, ‘Alligator’ and ‘Boxer’. Considering the sheer quality of those two records it was always going to be a very difficult task to repeat or even beat those incredible records.
But if anyone band are capable of doing it, it is The National. Just over ten years on from their formation they appear to be growing stronger and stronger as a band, and it is not an overstatement to suggest that this is quite easily their best work yet.
Opening track and the first single ‘Terrible Love’ is pretty much where the band left off with ‘Boxer’, it is a strong first single. ‘Sorrow’ comes next and this is when you begin to see The National really take it up a notch from the previous album, both musically and lyrically. Lead singer Matt Berninger sings, “Sorrow found me when I was young. Sorrow waited, sorrow won.” He ends the same song with the lyrics, “I don’t wanna’ get over you.” A true love song sang straight from the heart of Berninger.
The theme of love continues with ‘Anyone’s Ghost’ which on first listen was the stand out track and even now sounds better and better with each listen. You get the sense that this record is about heartbreak as, “Say you stay at home, alone with the flu. Find out from friends, that wasn’t true” suggests.
Nearer to the end of the record The National show just why they are one of the most critically and commercially acclaimed bands around with, ‘Conversation 16’. Which shows once again the raw emotion from Berninger and his quite wonderful voice along with the haunting backing vocals near the end of the song make this song one of the stand out tracks of 2010.
Other songs such as ‘England’, ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’, ‘Afraid of Everyone’ and ‘Lemonworld’ confirm the absolute brilliance of this record.
9/10
