The National say new album is sounding 'very f*cking amazing'

'We're not afraid, I think, to write hooks now'

Now frontman Matt Berninger has put out his album with side project EL VY, work commences properly on The National’s follow-up to Trouble Will Find Me.

Earlier in the year we learnt that the band already had sketches for around 30 songs, but now it seems they’ve whittled them down to what might be the final track listing.

Berninger told Stereogum that they have 15 tracks he feels are “very fucking amazing songs”, with guitarist Aaron Dessner even questioning: “Why didn’t we do that 15 years ago?” (Never say that Aaron, the self-titled LP was a beaut).

Dessner played the site a few new demos on his phone and apparently they sound a little like Alligator, the new material being “a bit razory…a little bit brighter, but also a little bit harsher.”

It seems the guys are enjoying writing together more this time, having recently holed up in a New York retreat to work on the album, giving tracks working titles named after towns in upstate New York.

"I think we’re actually writing in a room together more than we ever did,” Berninger said. “We’re excited about that. It’s changing the National, the way we’re doing it."

Matt concluded: “When the record is finished, it’s my favourite record for like, three months. That’s all I listen to - with my headphones, drunk in the backyard, singing along.”