For nearly 25 years, The National’s songs have been part of the soundtrack of our lives. Up until a few hours ago, with nine albums on the market, the North American indie group has brought us great songs and collaborations over the past few decades, including some of the most popular Coney Island and The Alcott along with Taylor Swift (Aaron Dessner, one of their own). He was the main producer of Folklore and Evermore and also participated in the production and composition of two songs on the deluxe edition of Midnights), Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens and Phoebe Bridgers.
In the midst of a festival tour that will soon become a tour of arenas and auditoriums in Europe and the United States, the band pulled off a surprise just two days ago when Matt Berninger (their singer) stopped the Cincinnati crowd in the middle of their final concert announced that their next album, Laugh Track, would be released on the platforms in a few days, at midnight in the United States this Sunday, August 17th (6 a.m. in Spain).
Said and done. 12 new songs make up this new album, which they named after the sister album of the project that they launched at the end of April that same year. “This 12-song album is the second part/side B of First Two Pages of Frankenstein, which we released earlier this year. If Frankenstein represented a rebuilding of trust between us after more than 20 years together, Laugh Track is the product of both “that faith as a new statement of intent,” they commented in an Instagram post in which they shared both the cover and the The project’s track list was revealed.
“Laugh Track features collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers and Rosanne Cash and gives a home to Weird Goodbyes, our collaboration with Bon Iver. (…) Laugh Track’s CD and vinyl are available for pre-sale now and will be released on November 17th. They ended with the release, the possibility to purchase a deluxe edition in vinyl format and the announcement of new dates in the USA and Australia for the end of this year and the first quarter of 2024.
In doing so, The National prove once again that they remain one of the most established indie bands both in the US and internationally, and as a group they are enjoying one of the best moments of their entire career.
Enjoy these 12 new songs across all streaming platforms and tell us which one is your favorite.
