The National has released its ninth studio album, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, on 4AD / Remote Control. The project has already garnered rave reviews, with Rolling Stone saying, “Nine albums deep, the National find new energy by conjuring not just a great, suffocating fog but also the far light that guides the way out.” Also out today is a lyric video for the new album’s song ‘The Alcott,’ a pensive yet luminous duet between The National’s Matt Berninger and Taylor Swift.
Set to a gorgeously sparse backdrop of piano and strings, ‘The Alcott’ finds Berninger and Swift inhabiting the roles of a couple attempting to resurrect a troubled relationship, forging a finely drawn story nearly novelistic in scope.
The 11-song First Two Pages of Frankenstein was produced by The National at Long Pond Studios in upstate New York and also features guest appearances by Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens. Earlier this year, ‘Tropic Morning News’ spent five weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart, marking The National’s first song to hit that peak since 2017.
Stream / Download First Two Pages Of Frankenstein here.
