Standout albums

1 May 2023

Ohio‘s notorious romantic crooners THE NATIONAL have their new,
9th album out, named FIRST TWO PAGES OF FRANKENSTEIN.

Artwork: The cover features a photo of a young boy holding a mannequin’s head.
The photograph was taken by the boy’s father, John Solimine, an illustrator and longtime friend of vocalist Matt Berninger. They met as dish washers in a Cincinnati restaurant.

NME: “With a little help from Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens, the US indie heroes deliver a dose of profound catharsis and their finest album in a decade… Ninth album ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’ – named to reflect the blank and desolate wastelands that open Mary Shelley classic noir novel, one that helped Berninger work through his writer’s block – is very much a band at ground zero, proving that they can do this as much to themselves as to a waiting world. ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’ is testament to what makes this band so popular two decades down the line. This is The National back from their brink and at their absolute best.” Score: 5/5.

TUTV: I second the multiple raving reviews for this outstanding LP. It’s not the first
time that troubled and depressed artists (Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave and others experienced it too) come up in the end with exceptional cathartic longplayers. Despite a temporary writer’s block and severe depression Matt Berninger (aged 52) found his way in his mind’s labyrinth and came back to express the fights with all of his demons in a most affecting manner. And his crooning voice, once more, is instrumental for The National‘s sound.

Singles/clips: New Order T-Shirt / Eucalyptus / Your Mind Is Not Your Best Friend

– NEW ORDER T-SHIRT –

– EUCALYPTUS –

– YOUR MIND IS NOT YOUR FRIEND –

Full Album

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THE NATIONAL: Instagram – Facebook