The National are one of the only bands that, with every album, stay within the same sonic landscape. Each ensuing album explores this landscape further, sometimes scaling mountains like on Alligator, or finding previously undiscovered caves with the quieter Boxer. Their last two releases, High Violet, and the excellent Trouble Will Find Me, perfected this sound, with Matt Berniger's delivery now one of the most distinctive vocals in alternative music, and the arrangements from the Dressner brothers evolving into complex and warm compositions.
They become more popular with every album, a career trajectory reminiscent of R.E.M, yet unlike those legends, The National pretty much stay the same. That's not really a criticism, for one thing they have lasted longer than most American bands that do this, with the likes of The Gaslight Anthem being the latest casualties. What sets The National apart is present on their new single The System Sleeps in Total Darkness. On first listen this sounds like a typical National song but its charms, and difference reveal themselves with each additional listen.
As the lead single off new album Sleep Well Beast, which comes out in September, the song is a subtle move into a grander musical direction. Since Trouble Will Find Me, Berninger and Bryce Dressner have been doing their own thing with El Vy, and successful forages into classical music. These detours have come to influence the band in positive ways. For one thing, despite the lofty lyrical content, the song is arranged in a way that brings light to the subject matter, there's even a guitar solo, undercutting the restraint of the arrangement. It's a great return that hints that the band have discovered a new mountain to conquer, and it feels great to be along for the expedition.
