The National confirm new album featuring Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers
The National have officially announced their ninth studio album. Titled First Two Pages of Frankenstein, the new record arrives on April 28th via 4AD and features guest collaborations with Taylor Swift, Sufjan Stevens, and Phoebe Bridgers.
As an accompaniment to the news, the band has also shared the album’s lead single, ‘Tropic Morning News’, which frontman Matt Berninger co-wrote with his wife, Carin Besser. The National have also revealed plans for a tour in support of the new album beginning this May. Supporting acts will include Patti Smith, Soccer Mommy, the Beths, and Bartees Strange.
In a statement on the new album, Berninger wrote, “Even though we’d always been anxious whenever we were working on a record, this was the first time it ever felt like maybe things really had come to an end,” with guitarist Bryce Dessner adding that the band “managed to come back together and approach everything from a different angle, and because of that we arrived at what feels like a new era for the band.”
Last week, The National teased today’s news with a series of cryptic social media posts. Firstly, a short clip was shared to the band’s Twitter account featuring 25 seconds of new music with frontman Matt Berninger sitting at his piano. At the end of the short video, he turns around, holding up a copy of Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein.
Concurrently, the band had sent teasers directly to members of their Cherry Tree fan club. On Reddit, a mysterious account posted a photo of a cutout face with a “Hello, my name is Paul” sticker on the head. On the back was the date “Friday 13th” and the cryptic words “Tranquilize the Mind”.
Another Redditor later posted to say they had received the same cutout image, but theirs was labelled “Evil Forebodings”. On Friday, The National added fuel to the fire by sharing a link via Twitter with the name of their new website and the letters “lp9”.
Following the link, fans are asked for a password, which is “Evil Forebodings”, before taking them to a passage from a letter to Mrs. Saville taken from Frankenstein. However, the letter is here addressed to Mrs Bridgers; Margaret has been replaced by Taylor, and “our good Uncle Thomas” has given way to “our good Uncle Sufjan.” These were, of course, hints at the now-confirmed collaborations.
Listen to the lead single and see the list of tour dates below.
The National tour dates
- 05-20 Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theatre
- 05-21 Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theatre
- 05-24 Washington, D.C. – The Anthem
- 05-26 Boston, MA – Boston Calling Music Festival
- 05-28 Napa, CA – Bottlerock Festival
- 05-30 Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre
- 06-02 Troutdale, OR – McMenamins Edgefield
- 06-03 Troutdale, OR – McMenamins Edgefield
- 06-04 Redmond, WA – Marymoor Park
- 06-05 Burnaby, British Columbia – Festival Lawn at Deer Lake Park
- 08-01 Philadelphia, PA – The Met Philadelphia
- 08-03 New Haven, CT – Westville Music Bowl
- 08-07 Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
- 08-08 Madison, WI – The Sylvee
- 08-09 Minneapolis, MN – The Armory
- 08-11 Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom
- 08-15 Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater
- 08-16 Atlanta, GA – Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park
- 08-18 New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
- 09-21 Dublin, Ireland – 3 Arena
- 09-23 Leeds, England – First Direct Arena
- 09-24 Glasgow, Scotland – OVO Hydro Arena
- 09-26 London, England – Alexandra Palace
- 09-29 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
- 09-30 Berlin, Germany – Max-Schmeling-Halle
- 10-01 Munich, Germany – Zenith
- 10-04 Madrid, Spain – WiZink Center
- 10-05 Porto, Portugal – Super Bock Arena
- 10-06 Lisbon, Portugal – Campo Pequeno
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