The National Announce Tour for 2023

The National have announced their ninth studio album: First Two Pages of Frankenstein arrives April 28 via 4AD and features guest contributions from Taylor Swift, Sufjan Stevens, and Phoebe Bridgers. The band has also shared the album’s lead single, “Tropic Morning News,” co-written with lead singer Matt Berninger’s wife, Carin Besser. The National will  embark on a tour behind First Two Pages of Frankenstein starting this May; openers include Patti Smith, Soccer Mommy, the Beths, and Bartees Strange. Check out the new song, the new album’s tracklist, and the band’s tour dates below.

First Two Pages of Frankenstein follows the National’s 2019 album, I Am Easy to Find. The new LP, which the band teased last week on social media, was recorded at Long Pond Studio in upstate New York. In a statement on the new music, Berninger wrote, “Even though we’d always been anxious whenever we were working on a record, this was the first time it ever felt like maybe things really had come to an end,” with guitarist Bryce Dessner adding that the band “managed to come back together and approach everything from a different angle, and because of that we arrived at what feels like a new era for the band.”

Since releasing I Am Easy to Find, the National collaborated with Bon Iver and the London Contemporary Orchestra on a song called “Weird Goodbyes” and made an appearance on Taylor Swift’s 2020 album Folklore, with Bryan Devendorf, Aaron Dessner, and Bryce Dessner credited as contributors. Berninger also sang on the Evermore duet “Coney Island.”