It's A National Release

The National have returned...or I guess I should say, are returning. Their new album is called High Violet and is a nervy, melodic, explosive and beautiful set of songs that find the band at the height of their collaborative powers.

The music is wide-ranging in its moods, by turns intimate and rough, expansive and spare, full of stark angles and atmosphere. Berninger’s singing—wild, half-broken, sly—evokes a feeling of being haunted, by love, by paranoia, by something just out of reach. High Violet may be The National’s most thematically twisted record to date but it somehow also manages to be their most infectious and immediate.

And having heard this, if you thought that The National were a big band before, High Violet should take them to the next level somewhere near the stratosphere and The Flaming Lips. This is a mature effort that could have only been made by a band who have slowly plotted their ascent. As if to prove that point, the band will be playing several multi-date shows in a few select cities.

Here's those dates...
Apr 22 The National Richmond, Virginia
Apr 23 The National Richmond, Virginia
May 21 The Wiltern Los Angeles, California
May 22 The Wiltern Los Angeles, California
May 23 Spreckels Theatre San Diego, California
May 26 Fox Theatre Oakland, California
May 27 Fox Theatre Oakland, California
May 29 Sasquatch Quincy, Washington
Jun 2 House of Blues Boston, Massachusetts
Jun 3 House of Blues Boston, Massachusetts
Jun 4 Electric Factory Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jun 5 Electric Factory Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jun 6 Dar Constitution Hall Washington DC, Washington DC
Jun 8 Massey Hall Toronto
Jun 9 Massey Hall Toronto
Jun 16 Radio City Music Hall New York, New York
Jul 27 Prospect Park Brooklyn, New York
Jul 31 Osheaga Festival Montreal

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