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Before I decided to buy this cd, I'd never heard of the National. Indeed, at first, I thought that I had read that there were only two band members. The National is a Brooklyn-based indie rock band formed in Cincinnati [hence "Ohio Blood Buzz"] in 1999. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger, a very low-key, but precise baritone. The rest of the band is composed of two pairs of brothers: Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Scott and Bryan Devendorf. Aaron plays guitar, bass and piano, Bryce plays guitar, Scott plays bass and guitar, and Bryan is the drummer - and a very fine drummer he is, indeed. Padma Newsome, from another band often adds strings, keyboards, and other instrumental layering. The National has an acclaimed indy history, though, after listening to High Violet, I found nothing of its caliber in the older albums, though they are good. Nothing to indicate the radical departure the group has taken.
The debut album, the eponymous The National was released in 2001 on Brassland Records, a label founded by band members Aaron and Bryce Dessner, among others. The 12 songs were an array of country/bar room/pop. I particularly liked "Beautiful Head", for its delicate roots orientation.
The National's second album, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, was released in 2003, and, like the previous album, was received favorably, though impact was not widespread.
In 2004, the band released an EP, Cherry Tree, which included the live favorite "About Today," as well as "All the Wine". The EP evoked further positive reaction, and its success landed them a successful tour.
Their 2005 album, Alligator, was met with much critical acclaim and featured highly in "Album of the Year" charts. Some reviews hailed it as one of the top records of the decade. Alligator sold over 80,000 copies.
The National's fourth album, Boxer, came out 2007, and critical acclaim grew. A number of TV shows (and some movies) began using The National music. The songs "Fake Empire" and "Start a War" were featured. Music videos and a full-length documentary on the band followed.
Word of what would become High Violet began to spread in 2008. The National performed live versions of "England," "Bloodbuzz Ohio," "Vanderlylle Cry Baby" (later retitled "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks"), "Terrible Love," "Conversation 16," "You and Your Sister" (later retitled "Lemonworld"), "Sorrow," "Anyone's Ghost," "Believe Me" (previously called "The Blue Sky" and "A Thousand Black Cities"), and "Karamazov" (a reference to Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, a band favorite), which was retitled on the album as "Runaway". Thus, the genesis of High Violet
High Violet is absolutely stunning. In my opinion it is far above the group's previous work, though I would definitely pick up copies of Boxer and Alligator. High Violet is far more, somehow, than the sum of its parts. At first listen, I loved the album, but I thought that it might be too much of a good thing, that it wouldn't last as I listened to it over time. I was wrong. The more I listen, the more I hear and the more the songs become part of me - if I had the voice, I could sing them. I can hear that thought and invention were put into virtually every second, and new details emerge continually over time. There is not a single weak song.
I would have written a review far sooner, but I have difficulty finding the words to describe this album. The music does not seem to stem from any of the main basic types of American music - it is not African-American, it is not country-western, it is not jazz, it is not tin pan alley/show tune.
It is sui generis. The music is very melodic, tempos running from ballad to not quite fast paced, thick with detail (especially on "Terrible Love", which on first listen on bad speakers seemed too thick, kludgy, but over time has revealed a very precise spare swirl of artistries), powerful and almost anthemic. I think that every member of the band must be first among equals, because everything comes together so terribly well. The lead singer's voice is highly expressive in a low, restrained way, except when it is bursting forth with a fine ringing baritone. The singer's voice and the album's themes unify it, but so does the music - at the end, it is one piece of music that happens to come in parts. Recurrent images - ocean, waves, sun, rain, souls, games, drugs, fire, New York, and flowers - create greater coherence, and, over all, even when highly emotional, the album is calm, restrained in a way that makes every detail carry greater weight.
Every single song is about pain and/or sadness - the second song is called "Sorrow." Yet, rather than being depressing, the album is cathartic; the songs are so powerful that, while they plumb the depths, they are also sustaining, and they are so thoughtful and perceptive (and funny) that they leave one pensive. The lyrics are allusive and elusive, like good poetry. They are lean and repeated, but somehow avoid being repetitive, perhaps because one really needs to think about them as they go by. Sometimes - no often - they make little literal sense, but they are just right in their contexts, creating emotional developments that give the words sense. "It takes an ocean not to break." What does that mean? Listen to it in the song "Terrible Love", and it will make sense. To me,anyway.
There is a very high number of memorable, if somewhat cryptic, lines. A few: "It's terrible love and I'm walking with spiders .../It's quiet company." "Sorrow found me when I was young/ Sorrow waited, sorrow won." "Awesome prince, get your sleep/ Lose your high history/ Make us laugh, or nothing will/ I set a fire just to see what it killed." "I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees/ I never married but Ohio don't remember me." "I still owe money to the money to the money I owe/ The floors are falling out from everybody I know." I gave my heart to the army/ The only sentimental thing I could think of." "What makes you think I enjoy being led to the flood/ We've got another thing comin' undone/ That's taking us over/ That's taking forever." [Who would ever imagine that this line/song refers to Dostoyevsky?] "Now we'll leave the silver city, 'cause all the silver girls/ Gave us black dreams/ Leave the silver city to all the silver girls/ Everything means everything." "I'm a confident liar/ I'll have my head in the oven so you'll know where I'll be." "Famous angels never come through England/ England gets the ones you never need." "All the very best of us/String ourselves up for love."
And the final line of the album: "I'll explain everything to the geeks." Actually, nothing is explained in the album, but then it shouldn't have been. High Violet is an album to let wash over you, like an ocean wave - powerful, unlike any other though repeated endlessly, having its own meaning, possibly dangerous, complex but simple. Yes.
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