SO.CO Team
The National Surprise Drop Second New Album Of 2023 - Listen Here
Ohio indie godfathers The National have surprised fans with the release of Laugh Track, their second album of the year.
Back in April, The National released The First Two Pages Of Frankenstein, an album equal parts heartbreaking and cathartic, as has become the band's trademark. Just five months later, in the midst of a world tour, the band have dropped Laugh Track. A companion album of sort to ...Frankenstein, which features a Bon Iver collab that we've already heard (Weird Goodbyes) as well as guest appearances by the resurgent Phoebe Bridgers on the title track, and a devastating turn by Roseanne Cash, who turns up on Crumble towards the end of the twelve track collection.
The National by Jesse Cowan
In a statement released with the record, Matt Berninger called it "the shedding of a skin", and it feels just like that. One suspects we're about to see another reinvention from The National. We can't wait to see what comes next.
The album is available digitally now, with physical formats to follow in November. You can listen to it in full via the band's Youtube channel above.
Words: Thomas Jackson