The National Share Second Sleep Well Beast Single, “Guilty Party”

The National have shared the second single from their forthcoming seventh album Sleep Well Beast. Watch the video for the haunting new tune, titled “Guilty Party,” below.

In honor of their forthcoming record, due out Sept. 8 on 4AD, The National will throw a Guilty Party at New York’s Basilica Hudson July 14-15. The event, a collaborative concert performed in the round, features Buke & Gase, Nadia Sirota, Mouse on Mars, So Percussion and others. Video artist Casey Reas, who directed the band’s “Guilty Party” and “The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness” videos, will contribute live projection mapping for the event, which sounds like both an eye-popping and ear-pleasing experience. Mikkeller will provide the beer.

The National have released just 700 tickets for each night of the Guilty Party—you can get yours here. Each guest in attendance will walk away with a 7-inch split including “Guilty Party” and lead Sleep Well Beast single “The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness.” A portion of ticket sales will benefit Basilica Hudson itself, a non-profit multidisciplinary arts center housed in a reclaimed 1880s industrial factory on the Hudson River.

Enough about the Guilty Party—on to the “Guilty Party.” Reas explained his vision for the new tune’s Rorschach test of a video in a statement: “The video is a dream about memory and the degradation of memory; it’s about distance in time and space,” he said. “Time moves forward, but then backward as memory. The image of the two-faced Roman god Janus, who can look into the past and future, is the core visual language.”

The National will tour the world in support of their new album beginning this fall. Last week in Paris and the U.K., the band performed new songs from Sleep Well Beast live for the first time. You can watch them perform “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” during their Glastonbury main stage set here via the BBC.

Watch the “Guilty Party” video above, and find The National’s updated world tour slate below. You can also revisit Sleep Well Beast’s details and lead single here, and preorder the album here.

The National World Tour Dates:

July
14 – Hudson, N.Y. @ Basilica Hudson
15 – Hudson, N.Y. @ Basilica Hudson

August
12 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ HAVEN Festival

September
16 – Cork, Ireland @ Cork Opera House / Sounds From a Safe Harbour (Sold Out)
17 – Dublin, Ireland @ Vicar Street (Sold Out)
18 – Dublin, Ireland @ Vicar Street (Sold Out)
20 – Edinburgh, U.K. @ Usher Hall (Sold Out)
21 – Edinburgh, U.K. @ Usher Hall (Sold Out)
22 – Manchester, U.K. @ O2 Apollo (Sold Out)
23 – Manchester, U.K. @ O2 Apollo (Sold Out)
25 – London, U.K. @ Eventim Hammersmith Apollo
26 – London, U.K. @ Eventim Hammersmith Apollo
27 – London, U.K. @ Eventim Hammersmith Apollo
28 – London, U.K. @ Eventim Hammersmith Apollo (Sold Out)

October
05 – Boston, Mass. @ Wang Theatre (Sold Out)
06 – New York, N.Y. @ Forest Hills Stadium
11 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Hollywood Bowl
12 – San Diego, Calif. @ CalCoast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
14 – Berkeley, Calif. @ Greek Theatre
21 – Hamburg, Germany @ Elbphilharmonie
23 – Berlin, Germany @ Tempodrom
24 – Berlin, Germany @ Tempodrom
25 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands @ AFAS Live (Sold Out)
26 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands @ AFAS Live
28 – Lisbon, Portugal @ Coliseum (Sold Out)
30 – Brussels, Belgium @ Bozar (Sold Out)
31 – Brussels, Belgium @ Bozar (Sold Out)

November
02-04 – Paris, France @ Pitchfork Paris
04 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Annexet (Sold Out)
05 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Annexet
06 – Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene
07 – Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene
27 – Portland, Ore. @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (Sold Out)
28 – Seattle, Wash. @ Paramount Theatre
29 – Seattle, Wash. @ Paramount Theatre

December
01 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre (Sold Out)
02 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre (Sold Out)
04 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Verizon Hall (Sold Out)
07 – Montreal, Quebec @ Metropolis (Sold Out)
08 – Montreal, Quebec @ Metropolis (Sold Out)
09 – Toronto, Ontario @ Sony Centre (Sold Out)
10 – Hamilton Ontario @ Hamilton Place Theatre (Sold Out)
12 – Chicago, Ill. @ Civic Opera House (Sold Out)
13 – Chicago, Ill. @ Civic Opera House (Sold Out)