The National release two new singles, ‘Alphabet City’ and ‘Space Invader’
American indie giants The National have released two new songs, ‘Alphabet City’ and ‘Space Invader’.
The band announced the singles on social media along with a visualiser for ‘Alphabet City’, which was drawn and animated by Pauline de Lassus aka Mina Tindle.
This follows the release of the band’s ninth album, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, which in a three-and-a-half star review, Far Out said “successfully highlights the overrated virtue of musical evolution that often trips bands up rather than sending them down a bright new path.”
When creating the album, Bryce Dessner revealed the difficulties they had to overcome, stating “our relationships had become largely focused on the work on the music, but we’d lost track of each other.”
He continued: “We’ve said that things felt fragile before, but I think this time was different. I think it was quite real and I think that it was actually necessary. We needed to let it go and accept the possibility that it would end.”
His brother, Aaron Dessner, added: “There’s a weird thing about The National; it’s just an evergreen, creative organism that just won’t die. Eventually no matter how far away we go from it, there’s the centre of gravity that pulls you back.”
The National are currently on tour, and are set to play a series of arena dates in the United Kingdom in September. They are also scheduled to play New York’s famous Madison Square Garden on August 18th, where they will be supported by Patti Smith.
Listen to ‘Alphabet City’ and ‘Space Invader’ below.
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