The National sends you deep into your feels with their newly released album, Sleep Well Beast. The album is a compilation of 12 dreary yet enthralling tracks that will either make your head spin or send your mind into a deep euphoric trance.
The lyrics expose the deep forces love has on us. They highlight love’s ability to blossom into something beautiful or cause great juxtaposition in life. Within each track the artist seesaws to and from his outlooks on love. The National depicts the lover’s conflict through different moods and emotions. It’s best exemplified by comparing “Nobody Else Will Be There” and “Day I Die.” These two songs share a similar message but with different tones.
“Nobody Else Will Be There” is one of the most morose and complex tracks on the album. For the first five seconds of the song, there is complete silence which evolves into a heavy, quiet piano melody. It casts a dark shadow on the future of the artist’s relationship with his partner who doesn’t want to put as much effort into their relationship as he does. Berninger’s classic, monotone voice emphasized his conflicts with self-doubt.
“Hey baby, where were you back there/ When I needed your help?/I thought that if I stuck my neck out/ I’d get you out of your shell/ My faith is sick and my skin is thin as ever,” Berninger sang in “Nobody Else Will Be There.”
Unfortunately, this song didn’t captivate me as much as I would have liked for a leading song. “Day I Die” would have been a stronger first song.
“Day I Die” is the complete opposite of the first song. It starts off with light, airy chimes and an uplifting drum beat coupled with a high-pitched guitar riff. Despite the uplifting shift in instrumentals, Berninger again sings about a conflict between himself and his partner — one that is so deeply rooted that it causes him to despise being with his lover.
“I don’t need you, I don’t need you/ Besides I barely ever see you anymore/ And when I do it feels like you’re only halfway there,” Berninger sings.
Many of the lyrics in Sleep Well Beast are difficult to listen to. Contrary to their previous albums, The National incorporats the synthesizer on top of their traditional instrumental choices. In a few instances, the synth layer on top of the whimsical instrumentals muddles the lyrics.
Static, cosmic synths start off the song. It adds a surreal-sounding effect to the other instrumentals. Berninger chooses to sing in a deep, unwavering talking tone which ends up getting lost amongst the myriad of other swirling sounds behind it. Not only do the lyrics get buried, the song “Walk it Back” becomes an utter snoozefest.
The last song, “Sleep Well Beast” is also unnecessarily long. The track runs a little bit over six and a half minutes and consists of a slurry of discord and lack of harmony. I like how it begins with a mix of sounds like a synthesized falsetto voice and lightly beating snare drum. Squirmy slithering sounds in the song is also unappealing.
Guitar solos redeems the tracks from slipping into a dull abyss. “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” possesses one of my favorite guitar moments. Halfway through the song, a quick drum line alludes a path for a ripping and edgy guitar riff. The segment displays great guitar mastery as well as a lifting element within the song.
I also like how dynamic some of the structures within the song are. In “Empire Love,” I love how the continuous, urgent, heartbeat-like drum line fizzles into a whimsical piano-led melody. The evolution of sound was beautiful and even moving because of the way it cleared my head from the pounding drums.
By adding new elements to their songs, such as discord and chaotic synths, The National’s new album fails to follow the footsteps of their previous, Indie-rock rich albums such as High Violet and Virginia. Instead, I find their new songs more comparable to Matt Berninger’s project band El Vy and U2.
I appreciate any band who can evolve their style without completely straying from their original roots. The National did exactly that. Despite some pitfalls, Sleep Well Beast, is a powerful manifestation of a man’s ever-present fight to understand the components of love.
Contact CUI writer Sam Danshes at samantha.danshes@colorado.edu
