Album Review: The National - Trouble Will Find Me

The National have only been on the popular scene for a few years since the breakthrough of Bloodbuzz Ohio, but this band has been working hard for 14 long years. Their sixth album Trouble Will Find Me creates an even flow between the deep, emotionless-yet-powerful vocals of Matt Berninger and the smooth guitars of the Dessner brothers. One could call The National a band of brothers: made up of two sets of brothers (one set, identical twins) plus vocalist Matt Berninger. This album comes after a long tour of their successful High Violet. 

Carrying on from their previous album, Trouble Will Find Me is darkly beautiful and somehow takes you down and brings you back up again. First single Demons is a dark-spirited confession, with Berninger sounding like a mix between Nick Cave and Ian Curtis. Graceless is where the tempo picks up to become the fastest it's going to get on an album by The National, with a panicked snare drum. This Is The Last Time offers up some of Berninger's best raw and honest lyrics: “Jenny, I'm in trouble/Can't get these thoughts out of me”. 

The National could sometimes be misunderstood as band of doom and gloom, but the genius thing about this band is that they make sad sound so great, and it somehow makes you feel happy. It's the darkness of The National that gathers a sense of honesty. Some days when you're just feeling a bit dissatisfied with life, The National really hits the spot. This is a band that makes intelligent, mature, honest indie rock that goes down like a straight whiskey after a long day.