When I walk into a room, I do not light it up.
Fuck.
To the very great excitement of many last month, The National announced the release of their highly anticipated sixth album, Trouble Will Find Me (May 20). Berninger and co. have been teasing us for eighteen months with live performances of new material, a few of which have ended up on the internet for eager fans to pore over and analyse . But as of this morning, we finally have something from the studio to get our teeth into – just after 11am on BBC6 Music, Lauren Laverne premiered Demons, second on the new album’s track-list.
On first listen, one thing that jumps out is a slight change in tone from previous outing High Violet, at least in the verses – musically it’s a bit looser and airier, compared to the tightly wound emotional intensity of much of that last album. But, after all, it’s still The National – the lyrics are all confused and worried introspection, grappling in a thousand ways with the nagging feeling that, for everything you may be doing, you’re not doing things quite right. There’s no other band that does it better.
Listen to the track below, and head back over to BBC6 Music from 4pm today to catch the band in session with Steve Lamacq.
UPDATE: Hear the band’s BBC session here.