Musical Wednesdays: High Violet

If you haven't heard the National's new album, High Violet, yet, you need to find it and listen to it. I would tell you exactly why, but it's hard to say exactly. It's just a beautiful album, with some of the smartest songs the band has ever recorded.

It's kind of melancholy, with song titles like "Sorrow" and "Afraid of Everyone," but at the same time it's an album you can listen to over and over without getting sick of. I think it might be because of lead singer Matt Berninger's voice--it's this really sonorous bass that takes lyrics like "I gave my heart to the Army, the only sentimental thing I could think of," and seems to stretch out every vowel even as the line clips past. And the emotions they're expressing seem real, and the band seems like a serious rock band rather than a trendy pop act that will disappear within a few months.

"I still owe money to the money, to the money I owe," is one of my favorite lyrics on the album, from one of my favorite songs, "Bloodbuzz Ohio." There's a recurring use of water imagery on the album, and in lines like this one, it seems that the whole record is about trying not to sink. From the first track, "Terrible Love," there's water as a barrier, as a comfort, as a threat, and I love that thematic line that goes through most of the songs.

This is easily one of my favorite albums of the year, and it's really interesting to see the band mature with each album. I hope they keep improving with every record. "High Violet" is available as an mp3 on Amazon for only $5.99, and on vinyl.