Rocktrospectiva: The Darker "High Violet" Turns 15

Released on 10 May 2010 in Europe and 11 May in North America, "High Violet" was the fifth studio album by the National, produced by themselves and featuring the singles "Bloodbuzz Ohio", "Anyone's Ghost", "Conversation 16", & "Terrible Love". 

 

An truly interesting album, a dark affair for a banda with curious reputation for bastardly drama, even though the band never sounded triumphant but they can still be reassuring, with Berninger's lyrics acting as salves for our own neuroses. The National were afforded the opportunity to obsess over High Violet. They could've holed up and recorded an idiosyncratic, expectation-defying mess. Instead they produced an ornate, fussed-over record that sounds like no one other than themselves. Given the amount of flack they take for being a no-frills bore, simply refining their sound was arguably the braver option. 

 

Starting eith the the string-drenched closer, "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks", is too decadent for its own good but mostly, they construct gorgeous, structurally sound vignettes. There are few bands that could craft a song like "Sorrow" in which emotion acts as a character and the band turns Berninger's balladry into a well paced jog without stumbling over their own ambitions. The guitars on "Afraid of Everyone" actually sound nervous; while "England" speaks of cathedrals over properly magisterial drums. These are triumphs of form.

Berninger is still, for the most part, a socially obsessed claustrophobe. He has upper-class guilt on "Lemonworld", no "Bloodbuzz Ohio"'s magnificent chorus. It seems that he's best when he tones down the angst in favor of reflection or confusion. High Violet seems less likely to engender the personal connections of Boxer, but it's also bigger and more engaging a possibly offputting combination for a band following the footsteps of Echo and the Bunnymen, Wilco, and Arcade Fire.

High Violet  was the sound of a band taking a mandate to be a meaningful rock band seriously, and they play the part so fully that, to some, it may be off-putting. But these aren't mawkish, empty gestures; they're anxious, personal songs projected onto wide screens. Even if you don't consider yourself an upwardly mobile stiff with minor social anxiety, the National make it sound grand, confusing, and relatable.

The album received widespread critical acclaim. hailing the album as the National's "finest disc to date" and ", "the sound of a band taking a mandate to be a meaningful rock band seriously." definitely the album was carefully considered without being labored and richly detailed without being fussy"

 

High Violet Track List:  

 

1. Terrible Love 

2. Sorrow

3. Anyone's Ghost 

4. Little Faith

5. Afraid Of Everyone

6. Bloodbuzz Ohio

7. Lemonworld 

8. Runaway

9. Conversation 16

10. England 

11. Vanderlyle Crybably Geeks