The National Debut New Songs at Brooklyn Gig

Posted on Mar 12th 2010 10:00AM by Mike Ayers
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With the National's new album 'High Violet' just around the corner, the broody Brooklyn rockers took to their hometown's Bell House Thursday night to debut a handful of new tunes. And it's safe to say, those who might've worried that change was coming with the adding of a DJ or funky banjo to the mix, fear not. The National's new songs sound a whole lot like the National's old songs. That formula has worked for them in the past, so why change up a good thing?

There is one thing that can be said in terms of difference: epic rockers like 'Mr. November' and 'Abel' are absent, and instead, they're now favoring what sounds like more deliberate slowness. More horns and a noticeable violin line songs such as 'Afraid of Everyone,' where lead singer Matt Berninger laments "I don't have any drugs to sort it out" as well as a song called 'Anyone's Ghost,' where he suggest that "he didn't want to be anyone's ghost." A song called 'Little Faith' was one that prominently featured the piano during the intro, as it eventually takes off into a patented National crescendo.

But they did bust out some oldies: 'Secret Meeting' and 'Fake Empire' were greeted warmly, as was 'Start a War,' to which Berninger forgot the lyrics just a few lines in. "That song is so old," he explained as the band kept on playing.

Of the new bunch, the best song so far is a slow ballad called 'Runaway' -- it's slow and broody, just how we like it, and has Berninger showcasing his best dramatics, claiming that he "won't be no runaway, cause I won't run." Look for this song on your next movie montage, mix playlist for that special someone or post-breakup wallow. It works on many levels.

'High Violet' is out May 11 via 4AD.