I Am Easy To Find is a new type of project from The National. 2017’s Sleep Well Beast earned the band their first Grammy, but they were jolted from their laurels by a pitch by director Mike Mills (20th Century Woman). It’s a film that isn’t a music video and music that isn’t a score - Mills describes them as “Playfully hostile siblings that love to steal from each other”. “Light Years” may appear to be a typical National tune, but listen past the sombre piano and you will hear delicate strings lurking in the margins, a harbinger of the orchestral and choir arrangements on nearly every track on the album. First single “You Had Your Soul With You” sees another tweak to the formula as singer Matt Berninger steps aside for Gail Dorsey (David Bowie), one of several female voices featured on the record.

• black double vinyl pressing
• housed in gatefold jacket w/ printed inner sleeves
• includes booklet
• music label: 4AD 2019

reviewed by MAD DAD FAD  04/2019