The National has conquered a rather vast amount of unfamiliar musical terrain in recent years. Between members scoring films, curating festivals, making music about the solar system, and performing a track for the beloved “Game of Thrones”, it’s safe to say the band’s just about done it all. Except for the fact that the group has virtually been non-existent in the last four years since 2013’s Trouble Will Find Me. 

*Enter “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” * 

The National has released their first track as a group in four years accompanied with a world tour and album, Sleep Well Beast, to be released down the road. This new music comes following the release of snippets on the band’s Twitter.

The band’s Twitter account also implored a red and blue colour scheme, coupled with this breaking news ticker tweet, and the name to the new track ‘THE SYSTEM ONLY DREAMS IN TOTAL DARKNESS’ accompanying it.

Could this be suggesting a political undertone to the new music?

It wouldn’t be entirely out of character for the band to explore politics on the new album, as prior to the U.S. election they’d been more visibly politically active than ever before, releasing a track just months prior to Donald Trump’s election entitled ‘Mr.November’, a music video for ‘Conversation 16’, and performed at en event supporting previous President Barack Obama.

In a recent interview with Pitchfork‘s Sam Sodomsky, Matt Beringer had the following to say about the new album being political,
“…It’s impossible for us to separate the songs we’re writing from what’s going on in the world. In a sense, it probably is a political album. But it’s not a concept album or anything. There’s political content in almost every song we’ve ever written on some level. It colors everything. There was no intention that this was more political than before…”

When asked in the same interview about the new song specifically Beringer said the following,

“It’s an abstract portrait of a weird time we’re in.”

LISTEN TO NEW THE NATIONAL BELOW:

Stay tuned for further details on the album and it’s release date still TBA.

SLEEP WELL BEAST COVER ART:

TRACKLIST:

01. Nobody Else Will Be There
02. Day I Die
03. Walk It Back
04. The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness
05. Born to Beg
06. Turtleneck
07. Empire Line
08. I’ll Still Destroy You
09. Guilty Party
10. Carin at the Liquor Store
11. Dark Side of the Gym
12. Sleep Well Beast

THE NATIONAL 2017 TOUR DATES:

06/21 – Pilton, UK @ Glastonbury Music Festival
08/12 – Copenhagen, DK @ HAVEN Festival
09/16 – Cork, IE @ Cork Opera House/Sounds From a Safe Harbour
09/17 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
09/18 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
09/20 – Edinburgh, UK @ Usher Hall
09/21 – Edinburgh, UK @ Usher Hall
09/22 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
09/23 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
09/25 – London, UK @ Eventim Hammersmith Apollo
09/26 – London, UK @ Eventim Hammersmith Apollo
09/27 – London, UK @ Eventim Hammersmith Apollo
09/28 – London, UK @ Eventim Hammersmith Apollo
10/05 – Boston, MA @ Wang Theatre
10/06 – Queens, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium
10/11 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
10/12 – San Diego, CA @ CalCoast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
10/14 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre
10/21 – Hamburg, DE @ Elphilharmonie
10/23 – Berlin, DE @ Tempodrom
10/24 – Berlin, DE @ Tempodrom
10/25 – Amsterdam, NL @ AFAS Live
10/28 – Lisbon, PT @ Coliseum
10/30 – Brussels, BE @ Bozar
10/31 – Brussels, BE @ Bozar
11/02 – Paris, FR @ Pitchfork Music Festival Paris
11/04 – Stockholm, SE @ Annexet
11/05 – Stockholm, SE @ Annexet
11/06 – Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene
11/07 – Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene
11/27 – Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
11/28 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
11/29 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
12/01 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
12/02 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
12/04 – Philadelphia, PA @ Verizon Hall
12/07 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
12/08 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
12/09 – Toronto, ON @ Sony Centre
12/10 – Hamilton, ON @ Hamilton Place Theatre
12/12 – Chicago, IL @ Civic Opera House
12/13 – Chicago, IL @ Civic Opera House

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