The National have announced a new album: I Am Easy to Find is out May 17 via 4AD. Below, hear the opening track, “You Had Your Soul With You,” which features vocals from Gail Ann Dorsey—a longtime member of David Bowie’s band.
The National have also announced a short film, inspired by and featuring music from the new record. The 24-minute film, also called I Am Easy to Find, is directed by Mike Mills (20th Century Women) and stars Oscar winner Alicia Vikander. In a press release, Mills called the album and film “playfully hostile siblings that love to steal from each other.” Watch a trailer for I Am Easy to Find below.
In addition to Gail Ann Dorsey, I Am Easy to Find features vocal contributions from Sharon Van Etten, Lisa Hannigan, Mina Tindle, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus (a group that’s worked with Bryce Dessner), and others. “Yes, there’s a lot of women singing on this, but it wasn’t because, ‘Oh, let’s have more women’s voices,’” Matt Berninger said in a statement. “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.”
Next month, the National will perform “unique events” in Paris, London, New York City, Toronto, and Los Angeles. In June, the band heads out on a world tour featuring support from Courtney Barnett and Alvvays at select dates. Find the National’s schedule below. Tickets are available here.
I Am Easy to Find follows the National’s seventh studio album Sleep Well Beast, which came out in September 2017. The record earned the band its first Grammy.
Read the Family Matters feature “The National Are a Band of Brothers—But Not Like Oasis.”
I Am Easy to Find:
01 You Had Your Soul With You
02 Quiet Light
03 Roman Holiday
04 Oblivions
05 The Pull of You
06 Hey Rosey
07 I Am Easy to Find
08 Her Father in the Pool
09 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
The National:
04-16 Paris, France - Olympia %
04-18 London, England - Royal Festival Hall %
04-22 New York, NY Beacon Theatre %
04-24 Toronto, Ontario - Roy Thomson Hall %
04-26 Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum Theatre %
06-11 Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center ^
06-12 Brooklyn, NY - Prospect Park Bandshell ^
06-15 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
06-16 Atlanta, GA - Coca-Cola Roxy ^
06-17 St. Augustine, FL - The St. Augustine Amphitheatre ^
06-19 Washington, DC - The Anthem ^
06-20 Portland, ME - Thompson’s Point ^
06-21 Montreal, Quebec - Place des Arts
06-22 Hamilton, Ontario - Pier 8 @
06-24 Columbus, OH - Express Live ^
06-25 Ann Arbor, MI - Hill Auditorium ^
06-26 Indianapolis, IN - Lawn at White River ^
06-28 Chicago, IL - Northerly Island @
07-10 Manchester, England - Castlefield Bowl
07-12 Madrid, Spain - Mad Cool Festival
07-13 London, England - Hyde Park
07-15 Frankfurt, Germany - Jahrhunderthalle
07-16 Hamburg, Germany - Stadtpark
07-18 Rättvik, Sweden - Dalhalla
08-04 Waterford, Ireland - All Together Now
08-06 Glasgow, Scotland - Summer Nights at the Bandstand
08-07 Glasgow, Scotland - Summer Nights at the Bandstand
08-09 Sicily, Italy - Ypsigrock
08-10 Budapest, Hungary - Sziget Festival
08-11 Buftea, Romania - Summer Well
08-14 Paredes de Coura, Portugal - Paredes de Coura
08-16 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop
08-16-18 Biddinghuizen, Netherlands - Lowlands
08-18 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop
08-28 Vancouver, British Columbia - Deer Lake Park @
08-29 Seattle, WA - Marymoor Park @
08-30 Portland, OR - Edgefield @
09-01 Stanford, CA - Frost Amphitheater @
09-02 Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre @
09-03 Phoenix, AZ - Comerica Theatre @
09-05 Ogden, UT - Ogden Amphitheater @
09-08 Santa Fe, NM - Santa Fe Opera House @
09-10 Austin, TX - 360 Amphitheatre @
09-11 Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall @
11-25 Warsaw, Poland - Torwar Hall
11-26 Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
11-27 Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
11-29 Copenhagen, Denmark - Royal Arena
12-01 Bochum, Germany - Ruhrcongress
12-02 Cologne, Germany - Palladium
12-03 Zurich, Switzerland - Samsung Hall
12-04 Munich, Germany - Zenith
12-05 Stuttgart, Germany - Porsche Arena
% “A Special Evening With the National”
^ with Courtney Barnett
@ with Alvvays
Watch the National on Pitchfork’s “Over/Under”:
