Where do you make a start when your writer’s block feels insurmountable at the moment and the band you’ve been making music with for almost 25 years has never felt so close to calling it a day? Perhaps with one of the lowest common denominators in popular music: the lyrics. Matt Berninger, lead singer of The National, unceremoniously reached for the books on his shelves and although the »First Two Pages Of Frankenstein« may not have presented an instant miracle cure, they nevertheless played their part on the Cincinnati band’s ninth album.
Overall, the new record feels like the lowest common denominator. There are the overwhelmingly big-sounding features of Sufjan Stevens, Phoebe Bridgers and Taylor Swift, but apart from the duet with the latter (»The Alcott«) their contributions remain at best perceptible and only a very tiny bit audible. Instead, The National do what they do best and deliver eleven melancholic (pop-)rock songs that tell of small-scale relationship dramas (»Eucalyptus«) or recall impressive everyday details: »You in my New Order t-shirt/Holding a cat and a glass of beer«.
Using simple but beautiful guitar melodies and surprisingly restrained drums and drum loops, Berninger and his fellow band members have created something less than spectacular that probably won’t reverberate in their discography like the great work that is Frankenstein. But sometimes you first have to start all over again by taking the smallest steps. And for its subtle literary observations, Mary Shelley is sure to have enjoyed listening to this album.
