Warm Up for the New National Album with This 2007 Performance of Boxer Deep Cuts
Photo by Sebastian Reuter/Getty Music Features The National
The National are releasing their eighth studio album on Friday. It’s called I Am Easy To Find and arrives with a Mike Mills-directed short film starring Alicia Vikander. It’s exciting to hear (and see) the veteran rock band taking on art from a more holistic angle following their 2017 album, Sleep Well Beast. This time, Matt Berninger, the Dessner brothers and company welcome artists like Sharon Van Etten, Mina Tindle and Kate Stables into the fold, making I Am Easy To Find a hell of a group effort. We can’t wait to hear what they have up their sleeves.
While you await I Am Easy To Find and its inevitable suitcase of emotional baggage, why not take a walk down The National’s memory lane? The band visited Daytrotter in 2007 just a few months after the release of their yardstick album, Boxer. There they played “Slow Show” and “Gospel” from that record, plus “Lucky You” from 2003’s Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers and a cover of The Psychedelic Furs’ “Pretty in Pink.”
Listen to The National’s 2007 Daytrotter session below. While you’re at it, watch I Am Easy To Find’s accompanying short film, and read our review of The National’s ongoing tour.