The National have announced the release of a new album called I Am Easy to Find, due out on May 17th via 4AD. Additionally, the New York alt-rock mainstays have teamed up with director Mike Mills (20th Century Women) for a 24-minute short film of the same name, starring Alicia Vikander.
The 16-track album was recorded primarily at Long Pond in Hudson Valley, New York, with additional sessions taking place in Paris, Berlin, Dublin, Cincinnati, Austin, Brooklyn, and elsewhere. The album features vocal contributions from Sharon Van Etten, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Lisa Hannigan, Mina Tindle, and Bowie collaborator Gail Anne Dorsey, among others.
According to a press release, The National’s album and Mills’ film inspired the other, but “don’t necessarily need one another.” Mills describes the releases as “playfully hostile siblings that love to steal from each other.”
The collaboration began when Mills reached out to The National’s Matt Berninger in September 2017. Mills expressed his interest in working with the band, which led Berninger to “essentially handed over the keys to the band’s creative process.” A press release provides further details:
“The former is not the video for the latter; the latter is not the soundtrack to the former. The two projects are, as Mills calls them, ‘Playfully hostile siblings that love to steal from each other’—they share music and words and DNA and impulses and a vision about what it means to be human in 2019, but don’t necessarily need one another. The movie was composed like a piece of music; the music was assembled like a film, by a film director. The frontman and natural focal point was deliberately and dramatically sidestaged in favor of a variety of female voices, nearly all of whom have long been in the group’s orbit. It is unlike anything either artist has ever attempted and also totally in line with how they’ve created for much of their careers.”
Below, you can preview both releases via the lead single for I Am Easy to Find, “You Had Your Soul with You”, along with the trailer for the film. Pre-orders for the album are ongoing; additional film details will be announced at a later date.
The National’s last album came in 2017 with Sleep Well Beast.
I Am Easy to Find Artwork:
I Am Easy to Find Tracklist:
01. You Had Your Soul With You
02. Quiet Light
03. Roman Holiday
04. Oblivions
05. The Pull Of You
06. Hey Rosey
07. I Am Easy To Find
08. Her Father In The Pool
09. Where Is Her Head
10. Not In Kansas
11. So Far So Fast
12. Dust Swirls In Strange Light
13. Hairpin Turns
14. Rylan
15. Underwater
16. Light Years
The National have mapped out an extensive tour in support of I Am Easy to Find. Along with a series of intimate dates scheduled for April, as well as a bevy of festival appearances, the band will embark on a headlining tour this summer. Over the course of their run, they’ll share the stage with Courtney Barnett and Alvvays. Tickets for the newly announced dates go on sale beginning Friday, March 8th at 10:00 a.m. local time.
You can get tickets to all of The National’s upcoming dates here.
The National 2019 Tour Dates:
04/16 – Paris, FR @ Olympia
04/18 – London, UK @ Royal Festival Hall
04/22 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
04/24 – Toronto, ON @ Roy Thomson Hall
04/26 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Orpheum Theater
06/11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Mann Center *
06/12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Prospect Park Bandshell *
06/15 – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music Festival
06/16 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy *
06/17 – St Augustine, FL @ St Augustine Amphitheatre *
06/19 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem *
06/20 – Portland, ME @ Thompson’s Point *
06/21 – Montreal, QC @ Place des Arts
06/22 – Hamilton, ON @ Pier 8 ^
06/24 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live *
06/25 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Hill Auditorium *
06/26 – Indianapolis, IN @ Lawn at White River *
06/28 – Chicago, IL @ Northerly Island ^
07/10 – Manchester, UK @ Castlefield Bowl
07/12 – Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool Festival
07/13 – London, UK @ British Summer Time
07/15 – Frankfurt, DE @ Jahrhunderthalle
07/16 – Hamburg, DE @ Stadtpark
07/18 – Rättvik, SE @ Dalhalla
08/04 – Waterford, IE @ All Together Now Festival
08/06 – Glasgow, UK @ Kelvingrove Park
08/07 – Glasgow, UK @ Kelvingrove Park
08/09 – Sicily, IT @ Ypsigrock
08/10 – Budapest, HU @ Sziget Festival
08/11 – Buftea, RO @ Summer Well Fest
08/14 – Paredes de Coura, PT @ Paredes de Coura
08/16-18 – Hasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop
08/17 – Biddinghuizen, NL @ Lowlands
08/28 – Vancouver, BC @ Deer Lake Park ^
08/29 – Seattle, WA @ Marymoor Park ^
08/30 – Portland, OR @ Edgefield ^
09/01 – Stanford, CA @ Frost Amphitheater ^
09/02 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre ^
09/03 – Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theatre ^
09/05 – Odgen, UT @ Ogden Amphitheater ^
09/08 – Santa Fe, NM @ Santa Fe Opera House ^
09/10 – Austin, TX @ 360 Amphitheatre ^
09/11 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall ^
11/25 – Warsaw, PL @ Torwar Hall
11/26 – Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
11/27 – Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
11/29 – Copenhagen, DK @ Royal Arena
12/01 – Bochum, DE @ Ruhrcongress
12/02 – Cologne, DE @ Palladium
12/03 – Zurich, SW @ Samsung Hall
12/04 – Munich, DE @ Zenith
12/05 – Stuttgart, DE @ Porsche Arena
* = w/ Courtney Barnett
^ = w/ Alvvays
