Album Review: The National - Trouble Will Find Me

Here it is, Trouble Will Find Me. My most anticipated and indeed one of the most anticipated albums of the year. The album was never actually planned as such, as the band were planning to have a four year break after the breakthrough commercial success of High Violet which placed The National near the top of the old guard of indie rock - this record however truly establishes them as at the top of their game, that very few bands can compete with. The relaxed composition of this album doesn't exactly break the mold of The National's style but refines it, showing a band slightly less ill at ease with their success. Having said that, the old insecurities still remain as Matt sings of the skeletons beneath his skin and the the trials of life.


For fans of: The Antlers / Sharon Van Etten / Interpol / St Vincent / Arcade Fire

This album in tradition with other National albums is a grower, you plug away at it and discover new aspects, melodies of the songs that resonate musically and emotionally the more you listen and before long are buried in the back of your head; there are no cheap singles or chart monsters that are separated by filler, this is start to finish the prime example of a great album.

The album starts with a good indication of what is to follow; I Should Live In Salt, contains Matt's  vocals straying higher than he has before and feels relaxed, sonically rich and lyrically more personal. On the subject of the album's lyrics, although they are not the best Matt has written, such as those on High Violet and Alligator and Boxer, they are certainly more personal and indeed more relatable - something the band is often targeted on, by writing about the day to day trials of middle aged, middle class men; however the lyrics can resonate with anyone and so often you can find a line that just captures a certain moment in your life then your own words never could. Here Matt's writing is at its peak in songs such as Pink Rabbits, Don't Swallow The Cap and This is The Last Time.

Similarly the vocal melodies are not as insatiably catchy as in High Violet but have a much greater variety such as coupling Matt's vocals with those of Annie Clark and Sharon Van Etten and the mass vocals of Sea Of Love which capture and energy not felt since tracks such as Abel or Mr November on Alligator. The versatility of Matt's own vocals is also tested more than in previous albums, showing its not just 'more of the same'; with his deepest rich baritone of Demons to the floating higher vocals of Pink Rabbits.

This album is all about subtlety, the overall timbre and feel of the record is a rich, dense and lush sound which seamlessly integrates electronic elements such as synths and drum machines with the natural elements of acoustic accounts and the intricate drumming of Bryan Devendorf. These lush soundscapes are best seen on the comparatively stripped down tracks of Slipped and the album's outro Hard To Find. The subtlety continues in the small changes to tracks that just lift them into something more interesting and compelling; for example the 7/4 time signature of Demons, the up tempo shift in Humiliation and also the mini outro of This Is Not The Last Time.

Many of these songs also draw from much of The National's previous work. For example; Fireproof could easily be on Boxer, This Is The Last Time has echoes of Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers, Sea of Love has a big Alligator vibe and energy to it, and Pink Rabbits could sit among the best of High Violet. This gives the album not quite a compilation feel but one that makes this album possibly the most self-assured and coherent example of 'what are The National.'

Its clear this album is very good, not only does it have the trademark gravitas and class that The National have brought to their last three albums, its is still accessible to all National fans and indeed anyone who has just discovered them. This is not boring, middle aged man music but a down to earth, rivetting, intimate and at moments even sublimely profound collection of songs that are some of the best anyone could hope to hear.

What is perhaps most startling is that the National seem to be a band that can do no wrong, after the slightly lackluster debut, every album since has been very good, the last four albums of Alligator, Boxer, High Violet and Trouble Will Find Me have been exceptional, the antithesis of one hit-wonder indie bands and pop acts at the mercy of the music press. This album is a refinement of everything The National have done so far, drawing upon aspects of all of their best works to create an album which although admittedly is not their best album, it does not need to be anything groundbreaking and showcases exactly why the band is one of the best indie-rock bands of the 21st Century and how there is no one close to matching the consistently brilliant calibre of music that they do.

9/10

Key tracks: Don't Swallow The Cap // Pink Rabbits // Sea Of Love // Graceless

(To download: right click link > save link as > save MP3 to computer)




The National are also playing venues in the UK for touring the album. I managed to get tickets for the Manchester gig at the 02 Apollo which sold out in about 20 minutes! There are still a few tickets left for the London shows and are certainly worth the money. I will also do a review of the gig in Manchester in November.

Album Review: Sharon Van Etten - Tramp

I first saw Sharon Van Etten in May of last year at Brudenell Social Club in Leeds (pictures above) and was really blown away by the raw sincerity and emotion that she put into her songs. Wanting to know if any of this translated into the recorded version of the album she was touring, I got her album from the merch stall at the back and waited to see if she'd come to the stall and sign it, sadly to no avail. However on the upside her album did very much mirror what I'd heard live, and I always feel the true test of how good an album is, is how well it is translated or changed for the road. This album also topped my albums of 2012 and this review should just about highlight why.



This is Sharon's third album and is far more accomplished and assured than either 'Because I was in Love' or 'Epic' and most people would agree its a step forward. This album is also heavy on collaborations  first and foremost is Aaron Dessner from The National who features on the album and also produced it at his garage studio, giving the album a semi-low-fi feel that suits it far more than any glossy over-production ever could. Other features include Beirut's Zach Condon, Wye Oak's Jenn Wasner and the drummer form The Walkmen. Far from giving the album a disjointed feel, all the collaborations not only add something different to every song and almost give the songs some assurance, a bit like friends helping Sharon through the process.

The album starts with three relatively rocky songs by this album's standards, Warsaw, Serpents and Give Out. All three are very solid songs, 'Serpents' providing a good lead single while 'Give Out' is one of my personal favourites from the album, however afterwards the album looses this assurity. It meanders, drifts and looses the structure and convictions of the earlier songs, but this is what makes the album great, the lack of the conviction and rigid structure, reliance on riffs or big choruses show how genuine some of the songs are. On the subject of how genuine the songs are, Sharon seems to tread the thin line between bluntness and artistic licence in her songs very well, songs such as  'Leonard' 'I'm Wrong' and 'Joke Or Lie' are obviously very dear to her, and it shows in the lyrics. The song 'We Are Fine' is particularly strong as it talks about a panic attack that she had, someone who can put so much of her soul into an album and then call it 'Tramp' is someone with guts, and someone to be respected. Each song on this album paints the picture of a destructive relationship, all the subtleties of the emotions perfectly documented, a whole album dedicated to one break up really shows the power of human emotions, and makes the subject matter unable to be dismissed as trivial in any way.

Musically, the album is a different story. It can be sparse at times, almost in danger of staying into blandness  but in my opinion, being just on the right side. This almost hollow feeling to some songs doesn't ruin it, the vocals and lyrics are the focal point and rightly so and more than carry the album. This album isn't perfect, nothing really is, but I don't think it's meant to be, this album is self-help, the chance to let someone lick their wounds and voice their grief and anger to the world, that deserves credit to bare your soul this openly to critical scrutiny, I doubt this, or any other review will change how Sharon Van Etten feels about her music.

9/10

Mason

2012/2013 Crossover

I thought with it being a new year and all this'd be a great time to do a nice end of year review of how last year was for music and for the band, as well as looking ahead to what the next year holds both for the band and in terms of new releases and bands to watch. (right-click and 'save target as' for mp3)

2012

Last year for the band was a little tough, line-up changes, cancelled shows and a forever delayed EP seemed to be the list of never ending woe that nearly all new young bands experience when starting out. But towards the latter half of the year with a new drummer in tow, new songs, a new drive to make the most of the coming year and now under the wing of a mentoring scheme by MAS records has given us a lot to be grinning about. And to top off the year nicely, our return to live performances after far too long - see here

As for music in general, it was a solid year, nothing amazing, a few good albums and some duff ones but on the whole nothing to sniff too much at. Here's some of my highlights and low points of the musical year:

My Top 5 Albums of 2012

1) Sharon Van Etten - Tramp - (review soon)

The third album from the American singer-songwriter and by far her boldest and most assured yet finding her worldwide acclaim. The album is somewhat of an acquired taste, with stripped-down soul-bearing honesty teetering on the edge blandness musically. Its a kind of genius that isn't immediately obvious, but its there. 

Sharon Van Etten - Serpents (mp3) - The lead single from the album.

2) Alt-J - An Awesome Wave

The début album from the local boys from Leeds, something different, interesting and most importantly, very, very good. Worthy winner of the Mercury Prize, lets hope they don't suffer from its curse and we never hear from them again...

Alt-J - Fitzpleasure (mp3) - wob wob wob

3) Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

Post-rock masters return with this stunning epic and also my first listen to GYBE (as they shall hence be know) but very very impressive. Its grand, sweeping, dynamically brilliant and a marvel of music and archetypal of the genre.

BYBE - Mladic (mp3) - the 20 minute opener, you're best listening to the whole album though, its not really an album for picking tracks.


4) Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (III)

I must admit a bit of a change of heart here, after what was one of my favourite albums of all time (CC II) I expected more of the same, especially after 'Plague' was announced. It was different and has taken a lot of time to appreciate fully, but in retrospect it is a much grittier and mature sound, but still brilliant.

Crystal Castles - Insulin (mp3) - Massive, glitchy and destructive.

5) Tall Ships - Everything Touching

I reviewed this album a short while ago and was mightily impressed and is only one of two débuts in my top 5. To see the review in full see here

Tall Ships - Gallop (mp3) - The lead single from the album and a thumper of a tune.






Honourable mention: Plan B - Ill Manors: A brilliant protest album accompanying a gritty and visceral début film from Ben Drew. Its brilliant to see musicians airing the issues that people see around them with the new found voice and stage they have been given - BBC 1XTRA Interview

Track Of The Year: Grimes - Genesis (mp3): Bloody brilliant ethereal indie synth pop.

Worst Album of the Year: Mumford & Sons - Babel: Shite.

2013

For a new band a new year is always a good time to think 'fresh start'. Not for us, its pretty much business as usual in order to get our EP out (we're sure it'll happen one day..). We've only come to the conclusion that it can only get better, more gigs, more songs, more people.

New albums to look out for in 2013

Next year looks to be a good year for music, with some big names releasing new material. Here are some of my anticipated releases:

Foals - Holy Fire: Third album from Foals and it sounds great so far, only three songs are out in the public domain but they are sounding very promising. Check out 'My Number (Live On Jools Holland)'

Atoms For Peace - Amok: Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich, Red Hot Chilli Pepper's Flea and REM's Joey Waronker release their début effort. Atoms For Peace - Default

Hurts - Exile: Hurts return with a follow-up to last years 'Happiness'. They say it will be darker than the first which is exciting and worrying at the same time. I really love a band that takes them selves too seriously, and Hurts do just that.

The National - TBC: My favourite band have a new album coming out this may, the live songs previewed from 'All Tomorrows Parties' event sound brilliant. I for one cannot wait.

Empire Of The Sun - TBC: A dodgy wait after 2008's breathtaking 'Walking on a Dream' left many wondering if there would ever be a follow-up. Thankfully everything seems to be on track for the next album to be released this year.

New bands to look out for in 2013

As ever, new bands are breaking and exiting a lot of people and as ever NME calls it a 'music revolution'... indeed. Anyway, here are the bands getting me exited this year, 'viva la revolution':

1) Chvrches: Ignoring the groovy 'V' and 'U' switch, Chvrches are a exciting new Glaswegian indie synth-pop trio that sound somewhere between 'M83' and 'Little Boots'. They also found their way in at 5th on BBC's 'Sound Of 2013' poll, in which better acts were in the long-list than short-list, odd. Chvrches - The Mother That We Share (mp3)

2) Palma Violets: NME's bitch at the moment but that does not stop them being one of the most exciting new bands around with a belter of a track that unsurprisingly won NME's track of the year: Palma Violets - Best of Friends (mp3)

3) Savages: Punk rock that's a throwback to Siouxsie and the Banshees and the brilliant music scene of the time. Nostalgia has always been a big plus points for some bands and this all-female group certainly have it. Savages - Husbands (mp3)

Mason.

My Latitude 2012 - Saturday

Saturday had to be very good indeed to surpass the day before, but the day's line up looked brilliant. The only problem was nearly every band I wanted to see was clashing with another, so as a result I only managed to see 6 bands that day, though I did nip into the comedy tent at some point. Here's what I made of the bands that I saw, and a bit about some of the bands I missed. (links to youtube videos are in blue)


Saturday

I only caught the latter part of Tall Ships' set but what I heard was very good. It was the first band I'd seen on the outdoor Lake Stage and so the feel of it was very different. For a comparatively unknown band they had a very good following in the audience and everyone seemed to enjoy the set. The sound that they made was surprisingly big and complex for only a 3 man band, with some members playing multiple instruments in their set and even within songs. Every part of their songs was strong, not mind-blowing but a darn sight better than a lot of other more established bands' sets that I'd seen.

Tall Ships - Vessels 

I'd seen Sharon Van Etten once before at Brudenell Social Club in Leeds and it was a really revelation and I bought the album from the merch stall straight after the show. Her newest album, 'Tramp', of which she played a lot of in her set, is in my opinion her best and what has got her a lot of recognition recently, having worked with members of The National on that record. Her and her band's performance was brilliant, really musically complex, very compelling and genuine and a lot rockier than on the album, which I felt was an improvement. I think her performance definitely deserved a much higher billing, after all she's had 3 albums and gave a much better performance that say Ben Howard who's only on his debut. But I guess that is the nature of the running order at festivals, the bands of the moment get much better slots.

Sharon Van Etten - Give Out 

My mate had been really looking forward to seeing Josh T. Pearson and beforehand, as I'm not that much of a regular listener of folk and country music, I wasn't exactly blown away. Seeing him live however I was left speechless. His songs were amazing and the combination of his guitar style and his singing helped make a set of effortless, heartfelt class in the Word Arena tent. It was certainly a set of quality over quantity as in his set of about 40 minutes he did only 4 or 5 songs, but each one was better than most singer/songwriters' sets that I'd seen live.

Josh T. Pearson - Woman When I've Raised Hell 

SBTRKT was one of the highlights of my festival. There was a real buzz in the Word Arena when I got there and for good reason. He came on to cheers wearing his customary tribal mask and delivered a great set to a great crowd that was mercifully bereft of any dickheads for a change... The sound was very impressive, particularly the bass which really went right through you and when your ears are used to headphone or stereo level bass, it was a welcome change! I was particularly impressed when I read that he only uses live instruments and live triggers for his songs, which I liked as if it's all programmed there really is no soul or even point to the music live if all you do is stand there and press 'play'. He also worked on a track with another band I like, 'Little Dragon'.

SBTRKT - Wildfire (ft. Little Dragon)

I was only sat near the back of the arena for Laura Marling, but I doubt there would have been a seething crowd of mosh pits if I'd have ventured forward. Try as I might, I've never been able to like her music. I think what my problem is with her is that there are so many other folk artists that do exactly what she does but so much better in my opinion, but hey if she's your thing then by all means ignore me. She does also seem to be quite odd, even among musicians, which may have something to do with the exposure she had at such a young age. Also I find some of her earlier songs a bit in genuine, which is something that my own lyrics have the issue of, which is: What does a 16/17 year old know of things like the darker and more adult sides of life? Admittedly some people have very hard periods of life at that age but I know I haven't and from what she seems to say in interviews neither as she. But maybe I'm being unfair.

Laura Marling - New Romantic 

Elbow had never been a favourite band of mine, mainly due to the fact that every time I heard them, I'd be reminded of 'One Day Like This' being played over an advert raising awareness for starving Ethiopian children, hence why I never play Elbow when I'm eating out of a sense of white European middle class guilt. But anyway, when I saw them live, I was a man converted! It was sweeping, grand, classy music, showing them to be more than worthy of the headline slot. The child within me particularly loved the firework displays in the set, fireworks which were missing from Bon Iver's set the night before. Guy Garvey held the crowd in the palm of his hand and was everything the frontman of a band should be.

Elbow - Lippy Kids 

Bands I wanted to see 

Deap Vally: Two hot women playing rock music, what's not to like? Deap Vally - Gonna Make My Own Money

Of Monsters And Men: I heard a couple of songs of theirs a few years ago and was really happy to see them on the line up, sadly there was a clash and I didn't make it... Of Monsters Ans Men - From Finner

Django Django: Saw them on Jools Holland, wasn't that impressed but everyone who I asked loved them at Latitude, seems I missed out... Django Django - Default 

Zola Jesus: Heard of her through seeing her name on a track by M83 (playing Sunday) Zola Jesus - Night 

The Horrors: They had won a lot of critical acclaim recently and I was really up for seeing if it they were all they were cracked up to be, sadly when clashing with Elbow I probably made the right choice. The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea

Tomorrow was the last day of music so I was ready to make the most of it.

Mason.