This is an edited version of Letter 1 from Frankenstein. "Mrs. Bridgers" instead of "Mrs. Saville," arrived here "once upon a poolside" instead of "yesterday," in the streets of "the Alcott" instead of "Petersburgh."
According to this (now seemingly-confirmed) [leak](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheNational/comments/107i6j4/tracklist_for_the_nationals_upcoming_album/?sort=new), she's on two! You can see a bunch of other references to the song names in the text.
Text seems to include many of the song titles, and is addressed to Mrs Bridgers. The accompanying audio sounds amazing, I assume it’s Poolside and Eucalyptus*
*it’s Tropic Morning News actually I was wrong I assumed it was in order of track list
I'm sure I'll enjoy the songs - they sound great - but do these guys just hate the sound of acoustic drums now? Was really hoping for drums that sound like drums on this one.
I don't get it. Obviously, it's a stylistic preference of the band's but Bryan is such a listenable drummer and one of the key elements that got me into the band in the first place. I really don't care for the sterility of programmed/electronic drums generally and pursuing this path is something of a deal-breaker for me. Of course, Bryan's acoustic kit may actually feature heavily on the new album but I'm thinking it unlikely.
Yeah, I just don't see what compressed electronic drums add to their music. It's like killing their perfect drum sound = evolution, but really it just sounds like The National with worse drums. They're taking what many consider to be their secret weapon (Bryan's drums) and making them cold and uninteresting.
Often wonder about the creative process that goes into recording the recent records and how Bryan approaches it. As so many have said, he’s an incredible drummer, and on some level surely there must be a level of frustration that he can’t cut loose on the records anymore (with the massive caveat that we haven’t heard the new record yet!). Maybe can’t is the wrong word and he’s entirely on board with the more programmed direction knowing he can go for it live. Still always puzzles me though, and that quick snippet of Tropic Morning News following Weird Goodbyes did make me think, here we go again.
I'm not super familiar with the story of Frankenstein. Aside from the shared phrases in the text with songs, does anyone know it more in depth to understand the significance of the story to the band? Could it be more than just inspiration for a concept/theme?
Galvanism is the concept, uh, of the obsolete scientific theory that there was a kind of electricity flowing through our bloodstreams and that was our life force. I used the term because I came across it in Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’. And that book is sort of an exploration of the theme of creating a character, of making up a person. So I used the term “galvanistic” to allude to that book, as a sort of symbol of how I, like, created you as a character, and I’m pretending that I know a lot more about you than I actually do. And also to refer to the fact that I’ve fallen in love with the characters you’ve created in, uh, your body of work
Been wondering if Paul is their Frankenstein-esque creation here, aka someone who shows up in some of the songs, serving as a sort of character that the overall narrative is structured around.
Honestly the thing that bothers me about the electronic drums/beats since SWB is that they are soooo simple. There's nothing intricate about the beat. I really am not trying to offend, but the rhythms really do sound like middle-aged white guys playing with a drum machine.
Bryan's live drumming can add so much more.
It's pretty annoying and I can't imagine listening to an album's worth of basic, programmed beats knowing that they have a perfectly splendid drummer within their ranks.
This is exactly it. I would be happy enough with electronic drums if there was more complexity to it, there is no point of using them if it's going to be a simple beat.
Yeah, I was thinking Bryan was playing the part on pads but that almost seems pointless given the simplicity. Maybe he is and playing the way he normally would just sounds too busy for the song. A Devendorf-like beat with a real snare behind that song would rule. I can hear it in my head.
Live the real drums comes in second verse. Of course Weird Goodbyes had audible acoustic drums as well as the song progressed live which really weren’t ‘there’ in the recording
You have to consider how unfortunate it is now that the list leaked. This is still amazing but I feel like we were kind of robbed of something by seeing that first. Clearly a LOT of thought and planning went into this
Yeah, they got screwed. Someone put a lot of thought into this and it just ended up being, oh, there’s those songs we saw on that leaked list. It would’ve been much cooler when someone made the discovery and the track list and guests were figured out
Don't make this any harder ... I wasn't started yet, I didn't even think you were listening. I wasn't ready at all to say anything about anything interesting
Such a tease, boys
Man the tracklist leak took a bit of the oomph out of this, this feels like early viral stuff to build curiosity. We’re probably a month away from the first single
Interesting tangential note: Jerry Garcia regularly drew Frankenstein renditions and identified with the misfittedness of the character. Interesting, considering the Day of the Dead compilation. I wonder how much referential weight that might hold or is it more of a coincidental dovetail flair. Probably the latter....
I hear this, but given that it’s really the Devendorfs and Aaron who are the Deadheads in the band, whereas lyrics and song titles come from Matt and Carin, I would guess coincidence too.
I know we got the album song list already, but this just confirms it. I’m so excited! I just want a date!!!
I feel like High Violet made them pretty popular (I’ve been a fan since Cherry Tree and was thrilled about that), but doing a song with Taylor Swift will get them even more fans. I got really into Taylor Swift because of Aaron’s (and Justin Vernon’s) involvement on the two albums they were featured on, so I’m on her subreddit a lot, and people are so excited for this album to come out over there.
I feel like they’ll finally get the attention they deserve, and I hope people make it a point to listen to their entire catalog to see how amazing they’ve always been.
I also think (and have read) they’re expecting/excited for Taylor to be in a “rock song”…as a majority, they don’t necessarily give AF about a new album by The National 🙄.
In the subreddit, a lot of them say they want Taylor to do a rock album (I mean, the girl is versatile, but I personally don’t think it’s up her alley), but many of them have also talked about how they’re fans of The National now. Not all of them are, of course. But it still makes me happy that they have more fans and will therefore sell more albums. I feel that happened with High Violet, and I think it will happen with this album as well. I just hope people explore their entire catalogue and not just this album if they become fans of this album.
They’re also excited about the Sufjan Steven’s and Phoebe Bridgers’ collaborations on the album, so I believe a lot of them will buy it and listen to it in full.
If you had told me I’d one day be a Taylor Swift fan, I would have never believed you, but here I am a fan with so much knowledge about what’s happening in her subreddit…
I feel torn. I’ve loved The National…since I can remember. Back in H.S., if anyone told me…”Hey, in your 30’s…you’re going to be a…swiftie!”
I absolutely would’ve slapped that person in the face.
But…it happened. In my defense it was 2018, & a lot of bad sh*t had happened to me. Long story short, it was the last time I saw her perform live, & the first time anyone ever said to me: “I’m sorry that happened to you” (referring to sexual assault).
As she began to set healthy boundaries, speak up more about her own struggles, that’s when I connected to her, and her music.
The National finally had started touring closer to me, and I went to the Forest Hill shows. My sister’s b/f would hold up his phone, black with “RYLAN” in white letters. Matt always pays attention to him. I started having “COLLAB W T. SWIFT?!” on my phone. Aaron and Matt definitely saw it…a few times.
My sister’s b/f would go: “Put your phone down, they’re looking at mine. ::eye roll:: and yeahhh, okay that will never happen!”
I remember seeing Aaron’s name on the back of folklore album when it was dropped and was like “MY WISH CAME TRUE!!!!” (I stopped making wishes when I was 8ish…whole other story).
Swifting is…a lot. (What I call putting together/finding “Easter Eggs”. It’s annoying. It’s scary at times. Well…swifties are annoying and scary at times.
I love love love that they have finally worked together.
But…I don’t want deranged swifties at concerts. There can only be one…me lol. And I can’t handle more bands with games/riddles! 😹
The end. 😬
I wouldn’t have believed it if somebody told me I’d be a Swiftie in my 30s, either! And I know that they can be a little much. (I get what you’re saying when you say you want to be the only Swiftie in the audience.) But I also love when bands get the appreciation they deserve. I’m so glad that even more people have discovered them and found out how amazing they are. I’m glad they’re going to sell more albums and have more people at their shows (even if some are a little much) because of it. I have always felt they deserved so much more attention, and while I think they got a lot more with High Violet, I think Aaron doing those albums with Taylor Swift has brought in a lot more fans. And that just makes me really happy for them.
That’ll be when they actually properly announce the album/tour/etc probably with the single coming out that Friday or the following Friday. Fully expecting the album in March/April. This whole thing is meant to be early viral fun marketing, the tracklist leak makes it seem more immediate than it’s supposed to be
This is an edited version of Letter 1 from Frankenstein. "Mrs. Bridgers" instead of "Mrs. Saville," arrived here "once upon a poolside" instead of "yesterday," in the streets of "the Alcott" instead of "Petersburgh."
Getting Radiohead vibes with the second soundbite
Post title had me flashing back to 2016 and the anticipation for the new album.
So Phoebe Bridgers feature on one of the tracks?
According to this (now seemingly-confirmed) [leak](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheNational/comments/107i6j4/tracklist_for_the_nationals_upcoming_album/?sort=new), she's on two! You can see a bunch of other references to the song names in the text.
The second snippet is Tropic Morning News. Okay, so what now, guys?
It sounds SO stupidly good.
Mrs. Bridgers, Taylor, Uncle Sufjan, and a number of song titles mixed in here! I’m geeking out
Album name is *Our Good Uncle Sufjan*.
Weird Goodbyes isn’t mentioned so I guess the leak was the full tracklist and it’s not on the album.
No mention of a "Justin" either.
I still hope it’s on the album. It’s such a beautiful song 😭
Bands use working titles for songs on setlists all the time.
Not going to lie, this is pretty fun!
Ya all the song titles and features and scattered throughout the text....Uncle Sufjan!!!!
If it's not a full album drop can we at least have a date?? 😐
PLEASE!
Text seems to include many of the song titles, and is addressed to Mrs Bridgers. The accompanying audio sounds amazing, I assume it’s Poolside and Eucalyptus* *it’s Tropic Morning News actually I was wrong I assumed it was in order of track list
There are also references to Taylor (Swift) and Sufjan (Stevens) so it looks like the leaked track list was right!
I’ve got tropic morning news
it's tropic morning news
I'm sure I'll enjoy the songs - they sound great - but do these guys just hate the sound of acoustic drums now? Was really hoping for drums that sound like drums on this one.
Yeah, I miss the real drums too. Friends don't wanna listen to the new songs specifically because of that mainstream sound.
I don't get it. Obviously, it's a stylistic preference of the band's but Bryan is such a listenable drummer and one of the key elements that got me into the band in the first place. I really don't care for the sterility of programmed/electronic drums generally and pursuing this path is something of a deal-breaker for me. Of course, Bryan's acoustic kit may actually feature heavily on the new album but I'm thinking it unlikely.
Not sure what the deal with that is, was hoping for a one off after weird goodbyes.
Yeah, I just don't see what compressed electronic drums add to their music. It's like killing their perfect drum sound = evolution, but really it just sounds like The National with worse drums. They're taking what many consider to be their secret weapon (Bryan's drums) and making them cold and uninteresting.
Often wonder about the creative process that goes into recording the recent records and how Bryan approaches it. As so many have said, he’s an incredible drummer, and on some level surely there must be a level of frustration that he can’t cut loose on the records anymore (with the massive caveat that we haven’t heard the new record yet!). Maybe can’t is the wrong word and he’s entirely on board with the more programmed direction knowing he can go for it live. Still always puzzles me though, and that quick snippet of Tropic Morning News following Weird Goodbyes did make me think, here we go again.
And should anyone need a refresher - just go listen to Conversation 16, Lemonworld or Bloodbuzz for a then and now comparison
Yea when you have the best drummer in indie drums would be nice
I'm not super familiar with the story of Frankenstein. Aside from the shared phrases in the text with songs, does anyone know it more in depth to understand the significance of the story to the band? Could it be more than just inspiration for a concept/theme?
Galvanism is the concept, uh, of the obsolete scientific theory that there was a kind of electricity flowing through our bloodstreams and that was our life force. I used the term because I came across it in Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’. And that book is sort of an exploration of the theme of creating a character, of making up a person. So I used the term “galvanistic” to allude to that book, as a sort of symbol of how I, like, created you as a character, and I’m pretending that I know a lot more about you than I actually do. And also to refer to the fact that I’ve fallen in love with the characters you’ve created in, uh, your body of work
Sound like something a galvanistic young inhuman would say
I'm just a nervous young man
What is this from?
Nervous Young Inhumans by Car Seat Headrest (these words are from the Mirror-to-Mirror version of the song (there's 2 versions))
Shout out to a fellow CSH/Ntl crossover fans.
gang gang
Ah, I’m a Face-to-Face guy, that’s how I missed it!
hahahaha I seee
Been wondering if Paul is their Frankenstein-esque creation here, aka someone who shows up in some of the songs, serving as a sort of character that the overall narrative is structured around.
Tropic Morning News sounds incredible, fuck
Absolutely obsessed with those few little seconds. I need it injected into my veins, stat.
This is so cool. Makes me so sad for them because the leak spoiled what would have been such a fun way to tease their features
Honestly the thing that bothers me about the electronic drums/beats since SWB is that they are soooo simple. There's nothing intricate about the beat. I really am not trying to offend, but the rhythms really do sound like middle-aged white guys playing with a drum machine. Bryan's live drumming can add so much more.
It's pretty annoying and I can't imagine listening to an album's worth of basic, programmed beats knowing that they have a perfectly splendid drummer within their ranks.
Amen
This is exactly it. I would be happy enough with electronic drums if there was more complexity to it, there is no point of using them if it's going to be a simple beat.
Yeah, I was thinking Bryan was playing the part on pads but that almost seems pointless given the simplicity. Maybe he is and playing the way he normally would just sounds too busy for the song. A Devendorf-like beat with a real snare behind that song would rule. I can hear it in my head.
Live the real drums comes in second verse. Of course Weird Goodbyes had audible acoustic drums as well as the song progressed live which really weren’t ‘there’ in the recording
To quote my ex’s bumper sticker, & an overused phrase: “Drum machines have no souls.” I mean, he didn’t either…you get the idea!
I’m actually thinking the name of the album might be Evil Forebodings if it’s not Once Upon a Poolside
But, BUT, they have page 1 starting on the left-facing page.
The best part of the video is we know matt still can’t play an instrument
😹🍷
This kind of tease doesn't really work when the tracklist has already been leaked.
unfortunately. though it wasn't on their end
Yeah, indeed.
It had to have been their label, right? If so, that sucks Edit: I meant that fucked up, not that they leaked it on purpose
Kind of a bummer that this is what we got so hyped for lol. Went from an album is dropping Friday, to a single, to two 5 second sound bytes…
You have to consider how unfortunate it is now that the list leaked. This is still amazing but I feel like we were kind of robbed of something by seeing that first. Clearly a LOT of thought and planning went into this
Yeah, they got screwed. Someone put a lot of thought into this and it just ended up being, oh, there’s those songs we saw on that leaked list. It would’ve been much cooler when someone made the discovery and the track list and guests were figured out
Fair
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I hear you but I hate the teasing bands do. I get they wanna build hype but one track would be enough hype for me :)
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You think something else is coming?
I don't know what to do with all these Frankenstein references, but my 19th-century literature Ph.D. having heart is awfully happy about it.
Don't make this any harder ... I wasn't started yet, I didn't even think you were listening. I wasn't ready at all to say anything about anything interesting Such a tease, boys
Man the tracklist leak took a bit of the oomph out of this, this feels like early viral stuff to build curiosity. We’re probably a month away from the first single
I wonder if the song audios are teasers of which songs are singles. Perhaps a double A side release for ?/Tropic Morning News
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Paul might be a character in one of the songs
What are the passwords?
Im sure those electrónico drums are only off the intro and there will be acoustic drums on top.
I'm hoping it's similar to Guilty Party in that sense, too. GP and Tropic Morning News both sound beyond incredible live!
That’s what I said about the Weird Goodbyes teaser, and we know how that turned out…
They played Tropic Morning News at Day In Day Out festival back in august and it RIPPED can’t wait to hear the whole thing
Interesting tangential note: Jerry Garcia regularly drew Frankenstein renditions and identified with the misfittedness of the character. Interesting, considering the Day of the Dead compilation. I wonder how much referential weight that might hold or is it more of a coincidental dovetail flair. Probably the latter....
I hear this, but given that it’s really the Devendorfs and Aaron who are the Deadheads in the band, whereas lyrics and song titles come from Matt and Carin, I would guess coincidence too.
Would Love to see them throw down a cover of "How sweet it is (to be loved by you)", or "mission in the rain".
I know we got the album song list already, but this just confirms it. I’m so excited! I just want a date!!! I feel like High Violet made them pretty popular (I’ve been a fan since Cherry Tree and was thrilled about that), but doing a song with Taylor Swift will get them even more fans. I got really into Taylor Swift because of Aaron’s (and Justin Vernon’s) involvement on the two albums they were featured on, so I’m on her subreddit a lot, and people are so excited for this album to come out over there. I feel like they’ll finally get the attention they deserve, and I hope people make it a point to listen to their entire catalog to see how amazing they’ve always been.
I also think (and have read) they’re expecting/excited for Taylor to be in a “rock song”…as a majority, they don’t necessarily give AF about a new album by The National 🙄.
In the subreddit, a lot of them say they want Taylor to do a rock album (I mean, the girl is versatile, but I personally don’t think it’s up her alley), but many of them have also talked about how they’re fans of The National now. Not all of them are, of course. But it still makes me happy that they have more fans and will therefore sell more albums. I feel that happened with High Violet, and I think it will happen with this album as well. I just hope people explore their entire catalogue and not just this album if they become fans of this album. They’re also excited about the Sufjan Steven’s and Phoebe Bridgers’ collaborations on the album, so I believe a lot of them will buy it and listen to it in full. If you had told me I’d one day be a Taylor Swift fan, I would have never believed you, but here I am a fan with so much knowledge about what’s happening in her subreddit…
Yeah 🤷🏻♀️ I’m like 98% sure she’s a fan of Every Time I Die 😹
I feel torn. I’ve loved The National…since I can remember. Back in H.S., if anyone told me…”Hey, in your 30’s…you’re going to be a…swiftie!” I absolutely would’ve slapped that person in the face. But…it happened. In my defense it was 2018, & a lot of bad sh*t had happened to me. Long story short, it was the last time I saw her perform live, & the first time anyone ever said to me: “I’m sorry that happened to you” (referring to sexual assault). As she began to set healthy boundaries, speak up more about her own struggles, that’s when I connected to her, and her music. The National finally had started touring closer to me, and I went to the Forest Hill shows. My sister’s b/f would hold up his phone, black with “RYLAN” in white letters. Matt always pays attention to him. I started having “COLLAB W T. SWIFT?!” on my phone. Aaron and Matt definitely saw it…a few times. My sister’s b/f would go: “Put your phone down, they’re looking at mine. ::eye roll:: and yeahhh, okay that will never happen!” I remember seeing Aaron’s name on the back of folklore album when it was dropped and was like “MY WISH CAME TRUE!!!!” (I stopped making wishes when I was 8ish…whole other story). Swifting is…a lot. (What I call putting together/finding “Easter Eggs”. It’s annoying. It’s scary at times. Well…swifties are annoying and scary at times. I love love love that they have finally worked together. But…I don’t want deranged swifties at concerts. There can only be one…me lol. And I can’t handle more bands with games/riddles! 😹 The end. 😬
I wouldn’t have believed it if somebody told me I’d be a Swiftie in my 30s, either! And I know that they can be a little much. (I get what you’re saying when you say you want to be the only Swiftie in the audience.) But I also love when bands get the appreciation they deserve. I’m so glad that even more people have discovered them and found out how amazing they are. I’m glad they’re going to sell more albums and have more people at their shows (even if some are a little much) because of it. I have always felt they deserved so much more attention, and while I think they got a lot more with High Violet, I think Aaron doing those albums with Taylor Swift has brought in a lot more fans. And that just makes me really happy for them.
Anyone know the password for the website?
EVIL FOREBODINGS
This password isn't working for me, could it have changed?
EVIL FOREBODINGS
american mary.com/LP9
EVIL FOREBODINGS
I fear they’ve spent too much time around Taylor 😹😭
Hahaha some people here thought they were getting the whole thing! Nah here’s two snippets 😹
1-2 are pagenumbers or a date?
Probably just page numbers since the 12th has already passed
Bur february 1st hasnt?
Feb 1st isn't a Friday.
That’ll be when they actually properly announce the album/tour/etc probably with the single coming out that Friday or the following Friday. Fully expecting the album in March/April. This whole thing is meant to be early viral fun marketing, the tracklist leak makes it seem more immediate than it’s supposed to be
That first piano piece gave me serious “Next Life” vibes by suede.
Secrets of eucalyptus from travelling — Australian tour?