High Violet

The National
High Violet
9.3 out of 10

The National are never going to hit you over the head with an original sound, but that is really not the point. What they do, and do very well, is craft excellent songs that fit well together in the context of an album, and silently grow on you. Their last two releases, Alligator and The Boxer, were so subtle I never even realized how much I loved them until well down the road. The songs sneak up on you and get lodged in your brain to where you find yourself humming them throughout the day.

High Violet, their latest and in my mind their best, is almost too subtle for its own good. It takes almost three songs in before there is an actual drumbeat to get the toes tapping. When I listened to High Violet the first few times, I thought it was good but not great and set it aside. Somewhere in the back of my brain, the songs had taken root and I couldn't get them out to save my life. I am now listening to the cd at least twice a day.

The great thing about The National is that their cds have great singles on them, however, the album tracks, even ones I don't think I will enjoy the most, end up being the tracks I can't leave alone. I'm currently obsessed with "Little Faith," a haunting song with lots of noisy background elements that are incongruous with The National's usual fussily clean production. The album appears to be about facades and how we all go through life hiding out true selves, either through societal trappings or not wanting to disappoint family and friends. "Little Faith" is about how two friends, who felt they were above traditional lives, find themselves growing up and becoming what they once thought they never could be.



Once again, The National focus on a sort of middle class ennui and how crushing it can be to its characters. They could almost be providing a soundtrack to Revolutionary Road. In "Bloodbuzz Ohio," he sings one of their best lyrics: "I still owe money to the money to the money I owe."



Another favorite song is "Conversation 16" whose narrator feels the weight of his responsibilities on his life and imagines himself to be almost a zombie, crying out the tortured lines:

"I was afraid, I'd eat your brains
I was afraid, I'd eat your brains
'Cause I'm evil
'Cause I'm evil"



"Afraid of Everyone" is another strong track with its narrator almost crippled by perceived threats from the modern world and wishing he could drug his fear away:

"With my kid on my shoulders I try
Not to hurt anybody I like
But I don't have the drugs to sort,
I don't have the drugs to sort it out, sort it out"



Give this brilliant album a chance to seep into your soul. It does not reveal itself on its first few listens. In this age of people wanting instant gratification, I am pleased when a band gives its listeners the opportunity for surprise and for growth. This cd will definitely be in my top ten for the year.