If the prospect of a new record from The National in less than two months now doesn't excite you, you might be dead. Either that, or you're just not a fan of smart, dark, brooding, literate rock-- in which case there may be little hope for you anyway (I keed, I keed!). Anyway, not sure how we missed this, but The National dropped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon the other night to serve up an early taste of High Violet, an album that frontman Matt Berninger has called "less restrained" than its predecessor Boxer. "Terrible Love" is the album opener and seems pretty epic, even within the confines of television.
High Violet is out May 11th via 4AD.
In case you missed it, here's our stripped down session with the band recorded a couple of years back.
Also in case you missed it, the side project from The National's Bryce Dessner and auxiliary member Padma Newsom, Clogs, has just released a new album-- their fifth. The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton features vocal turns from none other than The National's own Matt Berninger, My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden and Sufjan Stevens, and is just out on Glassland. Have a listen...


