Followers

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

The National band album, tour news

The National announced I Am Easy To Find due out May 17 on 4AD along with opening track “You Had Your Soul With You” featuring the vocals of longtime David Bowie collaborator Gail Ann Dorsey. It is the band’s eighth studio album and the follow-up to 2017’s Grammy-winning release Sleep Well Beast.

A companion short film with the same name will also be released with music by The National and inspired by the album. The film was directed by Academy Award-nominated director Mike Mills (20th Century Women, Beginners), and starring Academy Award Winner Alicia Vikander. More film details to be released at a later date.

Mills, along with the band, is credited as co-producer of the album, which features vocal contributions from Sharon Van Etten, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Lisa Hannigan and more. Pre-order HERE and watch film trailer HERE.

Having already announced “A Very Special Evening with The National,” five events happening this April in Paris, London, New York, Toronto and LA, the band has also announced a world tour beginning this June with Courtney Barnett and Alvvays opening select dates. See all tour dates below. Tickets on sale Friday, March 8 at 10AM local time. For tickets and more information, visit www.americanmary.com.

More about I Am Easy To Find

On September 3, 2017, director Mike Mills emailed Matt Berninger to introduce himself and in very short order, the most ambitious project of the National’s nearly 20-year career was born and plans for a hard-earned vacation died. The Los Angeles-based filmmaker was coming off his third feature, 20th Century Women, and was interested in working with the band on...something. A video maybe. Berninger, already a fan of Mills’ films, not only agreed to collaborate, he essentially handed over the keys to the band’s creative process.

The result is I Am Easy to Find, a 24-minute film by Mills starring Alicia Vikander, and I Am Easy to Find, a 68-minute album by the National. The former is not the video for the latter; the latter is not the soundtrack to the former.

Both projects are, as Mills calls them, “Playfully hostile siblings that love to steal from each other”—they share music and words and DNA and impulses and a vision about what it means to be human in 2019, but don’t necessarily need one another. The movie was composed like a piece of music; the music was assembled like a film, by a film director.

“Yes, there are a lot of women singing on this, but it wasn't because, ‘Oh, let's have more women's voices,’ says Berninger. “It was more, ‘Let's have more of a fabric of people's identities.’ It would have been better to have had other male singers, but my ego wouldn't let that happen.”

The National are: Matt Berninger (vocals), Aaron (guitar, bass, piano) and Bryce Dessner (guitar, piano), and Scott (bass, guitar) and Bryan Devendorf (drums).

Track listing:

1. You Had Your Soul With You
2. Quiet Light
3. Roman Holiday
4. Oblivions
5. The Pull Of You
6. Hey Rosey
7. I Am Easy To Find
8. Her Father In The Pool
9. Where Is Her Head
10. Not In Kansas
11. So Far So Fast
12. Dust Swirls In Strange Light
13. Hairpin Turns
14. Rylan
15. Underwater
16. Light Years

Tour dates:

4/16 - Paris, FR @ Olympia SOLD OUT
4/18 - London, UK @ Royal Festival Hall SOLD OUT
4/22 - New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre SOLD OUT
4/24 - Toronto, ON @ Roy Thomson Hall SOLD OUT
4/26 - Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre SOLD OUT
6/11 - Philadelphia, PA @ Mann Center*
6/12 - Brooklyn, NY @ Prospect Park Bandshell*
6/15 - Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
6/16 - Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy*
6/17 - St Augustine, FL @ St Augustine Amphitheatre*
6/19 - Washington, DC @ The Anthem*
6/20 - Portland, ME @ Thompson's Point*
6/21 - Montreal, QC @ Place des Arts
6/22 - Hamilton, ON @ Pier 8**
6/24 - Columbus, OH @ Express Live*
6/25 - Ann Arbor, MI @ Hill Auditorium*
6/26 - Indianapolis, IN @ Lawn at White River*
6/28 - Chicago, IL @ Northerly Island**
7/10 - Manchester, UK @ Castlefield Bowl
7/12 - Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool Festival
7/13 - London, UK @ Hyde Park
7/15 - Frankfurt, DE @ Jahrhunderthalle
7/16 - Hamburg, DE @ Stadtpark
7/18 - Rättvik, SE @ Dalhalla
8/4 - Waterford, IE @ All Together Now
8/6 - Glasgow, UK @ Summer Nights at the Bandstand
8/7 - Glasgow, UK @ Summer Nights at the Bandstand
8/9 - Sicily, IT @ Ypsigrock
8/10 - Budapest, HU @ Sziget Festival
8/11 - Buftea, RO @ Summer Well
8/14 - Paredes de Coura, PT @ Paredes de Coura
8/16 - Hasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop
8/16 -- 8/18 - Biddinghuizen, NL @ Lowlands
8/18 - Hasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop
8/28 - Vancouver, BC @ Deer Lake Park**
8/29 - Seattle, WA @ Marymoor Park**
8/30 - Portland, OR @ Edgefield**
9/1 - Stanford, CA @ Frost Amphitheater**
9/2 - Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre**
9/3 - Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theatre**
9/5 - Odgen, UT @ Ogden Amphitheater**
9/8 - Santa Fe, NM @ Santa Fe Opera House**
9/10 - Austin, TX @ 360 Amphitheatre**
9/11 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall**
11/25 - Warsaw, PL @ Torwar Hall
11/26 - Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
11/27 - Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
11/29 - Copenhagen, DK @ Royal Arena
12/1 - Bochum, DE @ Ruhrcongress
12/2 - Cologne, DE @ Palladium
12/3 - Zurich, SW @ Samsung Hall
12/4 - Munich, DE @ Zenith
12/5 - Stuttgart, DE @ Porsche Arena

*w/ Courtney Barnett
**w/ Alvvays

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