The National - High Violet

I don’t think 2010 can be defined by any particular album. There is certainly no record of ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’-like proportions that we can think back on and say, ‘yes, this was 2010’. Things were far too scattershot for anything like this to happen. Take me, for instance: back at the start of December I thought I had my twelve sorted. Did I hell. Even now I’m having trouble choosing my last few.

I didn’t reckon with ‘High Violet’, and in hindsight this was probably a good idea. Yes, this is one of the albums of the year; I no longer doubt that, even for a second. The thing about this record is that it’s quite unassuming. It’s something very easy to like, but more difficult to declare the utmost devotion to. Its impact can be compared to The National’s career trajectory: it draws you in (self-titled, ‘Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers’, ‘Alligator’); it then makes you sit up and take notice (‘Boxer’); and finally it hits you full force (‘High Violet’ itself).

I didn’t come back to it as much as I had planned, but maybe we needed some time apart. It was probably for the best, because then I was setting myself up to lose myself in it all over again; and when I finally did, songs like ‘Sorrow’, ‘Little Faith’ and ‘Conversation 16’ spoke to me louder and more clearly than ever before. The entire album is of exceptional quality from start to finish (something we’ve come to expect from a band of this calibre), and the best part is that it creates its own atmosphere that is almost tangible yet, at the same time, borderline impossible to describe. If 2010 is going to be remembered for anything, it will be remembered as the year The National were finally got what they deserved. [GO’M]

mp3: Bloodbuzz Ohio
Audiovisuals: Terrible Love (alternate version)