Trouble Will Find Me, The National
To start this blog I decided to review the latest album of one of my favorite bands, The National. Trouble Will Find Me is their sixth studio album and features appearances of major indie rock names such as Richard Reed Parry from Arcade Fire, the album was also nominated for best alternative music album at last years' Grammy's.
The first song, I Should Live In Salt is about Matt's (the lead singer) relationship with his brother and how different they are. When you listen to the song, you can almost hear Matt's regret as he sings in an unusually high pitch for his voice. It has some repetition in is but is still pretty nice to listen to. The next track is Demons, my personal favorite of the album. Matt's dark and baritone voice has returned, giving the song a somewhat gloomy mood. Singing about his depression which he can not overcome by simply believing in god, so he stays down with his demons. The song progresses, like most of their songs, from drums and a guitar adding more and more instruments until it simply sounds full, almost muddy but still rhythmical. Fireproof is a relaxed song about his broken heart and how the women seemed fireproof, except for one girl. it starts only with a guitar and only a few more instruments are added throughout the song, keeping it calm and relaxed with the help of a soft rhythm on the drums. Slipped and I Need My Girl are again two slower tracks, about broken relationships and difficulties with new ones. Slipped sounds regretful and a little sad, accentuated by the slow rhythm, while I Need My Girl sounds more reminiscent. Remembering past experiences with his former girlfriend and how he keeps feeling smaller now. Don't Swallow The Cap, Graceless and Humiliation are the more upbeat tracks of the album and such as almost every The National song they fill it with instruments throughout as the song progresses. Don't Swallow The Cap and Graceless have some subtle backing vocals which give it a more airy sound and in Humiliation the instruments start in the background and become more forward throughout the song. These three songs have similar rhythm and sound as most tracks on their previous albums and will sound very familiar to fans of the band. Sea of love is again easily recognized as one from The National, filled with sound towards the end with nice backing vocals. Pink Rabbits and Hard To Find sound similar to I Should Live In Salt with a slower rhythm and less "full". This Is The Last Time is somewhere in between Graceless and Hard To Find, slightly faster and again with more instrument than can be distinguished. At the end of the song is a slower and sadder part, with nice vocals and backing vocals.
In my opinion Trouble Will Find Me is not their best album but is still very enjoyable, it has their signature sound and songs varying from sad and slow to very upbeat. I still prefer their earlier albums but this will probably appeal to a wider audience. Some tracks sound a bit repetitive and others a bit "full" but it mostly doesn't reduce the listening pleasure. All in all it is just a very enjoyable "sit back and relax" album to listen to on a Sunday afternoon.
My grade: 8.5
The first song, I Should Live In Salt is about Matt's (the lead singer) relationship with his brother and how different they are. When you listen to the song, you can almost hear Matt's regret as he sings in an unusually high pitch for his voice. It has some repetition in is but is still pretty nice to listen to. The next track is Demons, my personal favorite of the album. Matt's dark and baritone voice has returned, giving the song a somewhat gloomy mood. Singing about his depression which he can not overcome by simply believing in god, so he stays down with his demons. The song progresses, like most of their songs, from drums and a guitar adding more and more instruments until it simply sounds full, almost muddy but still rhythmical. Fireproof is a relaxed song about his broken heart and how the women seemed fireproof, except for one girl. it starts only with a guitar and only a few more instruments are added throughout the song, keeping it calm and relaxed with the help of a soft rhythm on the drums. Slipped and I Need My Girl are again two slower tracks, about broken relationships and difficulties with new ones. Slipped sounds regretful and a little sad, accentuated by the slow rhythm, while I Need My Girl sounds more reminiscent. Remembering past experiences with his former girlfriend and how he keeps feeling smaller now. Don't Swallow The Cap, Graceless and Humiliation are the more upbeat tracks of the album and such as almost every The National song they fill it with instruments throughout as the song progresses. Don't Swallow The Cap and Graceless have some subtle backing vocals which give it a more airy sound and in Humiliation the instruments start in the background and become more forward throughout the song. These three songs have similar rhythm and sound as most tracks on their previous albums and will sound very familiar to fans of the band. Sea of love is again easily recognized as one from The National, filled with sound towards the end with nice backing vocals. Pink Rabbits and Hard To Find sound similar to I Should Live In Salt with a slower rhythm and less "full". This Is The Last Time is somewhere in between Graceless and Hard To Find, slightly faster and again with more instrument than can be distinguished. At the end of the song is a slower and sadder part, with nice vocals and backing vocals.
In my opinion Trouble Will Find Me is not their best album but is still very enjoyable, it has their signature sound and songs varying from sad and slow to very upbeat. I still prefer their earlier albums but this will probably appeal to a wider audience. Some tracks sound a bit repetitive and others a bit "full" but it mostly doesn't reduce the listening pleasure. All in all it is just a very enjoyable "sit back and relax" album to listen to on a Sunday afternoon.
My grade: 8.5
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