The National Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

The National have shared a lyric video for their new song with Taylor Swift, ‘The Alcott’.READ MORE: The National on pulling back from the brink: “It’s felt fragile before, but this time was different”The single is taken from their newly-debuted album, ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’, which was released today (April 28), and sees the indie five-piece team up with pop icon Taylor Swift.Now, the band have shared an official lyric video for the emotional track, which also features in-studio footage of the band and Swift. Check it out below.Ahead of the release of their ninth studio album, The National spoke to NME about the inspiration behind the LP, and their long-running relationship with the ‘Anti-Hero’ singer — which first formed over a decade ago.According to the members, Aaron Dessner sent Swift the song shortly after it was written, and she responded within half an hour, making it into the track it is today.

The National‘s Aaron Dessner has praised Taylor Swift‘s ‘Eras Tour’, calling it “the greatest show I’ve ever seen”.Dessner co-wrote and co-produced Swift’s surprise 2020 albums ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’ alongside Jack Antonoff. He went on to work with the singer on the 2021 re-recorded versions of ‘Fearless’ and ‘Red’.Earlier this month, Dessner joined Swift onstage in Tampa, Florida to perform collaborative renditions of ‘The Great War’ (a track he produced for the ‘3am Edition’ of ‘Midnights’) and ‘Mad Woman’ from ‘Folklore’.During a new interview with NME, Dessner opened up about reuniting with Swift on The National’s ninth studio album ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’, which is released this Friday (April 28).The pop star will feature on ‘The Alcott’, a song NME‘s Thomas Smith described as a “subtle duet” and “a back-and-forth conversation between frontman [Matt] Berninger and [Swift]”.After praising the singer’s work ethic and creative process, Dessner spoke about her current ‘Eras Tour’ in North America.“It’s just kind of… the greatest show I’ve ever seen,” the musician told NME.

Taylor Swift’s songs were originally intended to be released by The National.The news was revealed by The National’s own Aaron Dessner and Matt Berninger in a new interview yesterday (April 20). According to the members, the Taylor Swift songs ‘Willow’ and ‘Cardigan’ were handed over to the pop star after they struggled to make them come together.The first track, ‘Willow’, was released on Swift’s ninth studio album, ‘Evermore’, whereas the second, ‘Cardigan’ was released on 2020 LP, ‘Folklore’.“I’d taken a swing at [‘Cardigan’] and ‘Willow’ and a couple of others, and I wasn’t having a lot of luck, so Aaron sent them to Taylor,” Berninger recalled to The Telegraph.He also explained that the opposite has happened in the past, where the band have released tracks that were initially intended for Swift.

Taylor Swift welcomed special guest Aaron Dessner to the ‘Eras’ tour in Florida last night (April 14) – watch them give a live debut to ‘The Great War’ below.Dessner, who produced Swift’s lockdown albums ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’, joined Swift for a song in the ‘surprise’ section of the set, where Swift plays a different track each night, often giving songs live debuts or dusting off rarities.On Thursday night in Tampa, Dessner joined her to play ‘The Great War’, a track he produced from the ‘3am Edition’ of Swift’s 2022 album ‘Midnights’.For the second surprise song, Swift gave another live debut to a track from ‘Midnights’, ‘You’re On Your Own, Kid’.See footage of both performances below.Taylor Swift com Aaron Dessner cantando "The Great War", bônus track do "Midnights"

Phoebe Bridgers has spoken out on her love for The National – as well as her collaboration on their upcoming album, ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’.Bridgers had previously joined The National on stage numerous times in 2019 to perform songs from their previous album ‘I Am Easy To Find‘, with the singer-songwriter and Boygenius member also collaborating with frontman Matt Berninger on the single ‘Walking On A String’ ahead of his 2020 debut solo album ‘Serpentine Prison‘.As part of an exclusive cover interview with The National and their collaborators for the latest issue of Uncut, Bridgers discussed her admiration for the indie veterans.“My friends and I have this joke about The National,” started Bridgers. “Obviously they’re hugely popular, but we still feel this ownership over them.”Adopting a ‘stroppy and possessive’ tone, she mimicked an argument with her friends,”‘No but you don’t like them in the right way! Do you even understand how profound this band is?'” before adding: “Because they are profoundly fucking amazing.”On the band’s new album ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’, Bridgers features on two tracks – the new single ‘Your Mind Is Not Your Friend’ and ‘This Isn’t Helping’.

The National have shared a new single featuring Phoebe Bridgers – listen to ‘Your Mind Is Not Your Friend’ below.The melancholic piano-led song serves as the fourth and final preview of the band’s ninth album ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’, which is due for release on April 28 (pre-order here).“Don’t you understand?/ Your mind is not your friend again/ It takes you by the hand/ And leaves you nowhere,” frontman Matt Berninger croons as Bridgers delivers a haunting backing vocal in unison.Per a press release, the single “confronts the entanglements of the habitual mind and the overwhelming nature of scrutiny”, and emerged during a period of writer’s block for Berninger.‘Your Mind Is Not Your Friend’ is accompanied by a nostalgic official video, which was directed by Bridgers’ brother Jackson. Filmed in Los Angeles, the clip stars Berninger’s brother Tom – tune in above.Recently, Matt Berninger opened up about how the single’s title and lyrics had been inspired by the advice his wife Carin Besser had given him as he battled depression.

The National frontman Matt Berninger has spoken candidly about his battle with depression and writer’s block, and how he documented it on the band’s upcoming album, ‘First Pages Of Frankenstein’.Berninger was speaking in an exclusive cover interview for the latest issue of Uncut, where he revealed how the COVID period after The National’s last record ‘I Am Easy To Find‘ [2019] and his 2020 debut solo album ‘Serpentine Prison‘ saw him facing “burnout” and a depression he likened to “the train going off the tracks”. He explained said he found himself unable to write lyrics for a whole year.“Usually when I’m in a troubled place, I can make something out of it, and write a song about it, and that does a lot to solve it,” he said. “This time, I didn’t want to.

Aaron Dessner has taken to social media to pay tribute to Sharon Van Etten’s iconic album, ‘Tramp’, which he claims is the first record he ever produced. An anniversary edition of the album and a previously unreleased song have also been launched.The producer took to Facebook yesterday to celebrate 11-years since the release of Sharon Van Etten’s ‘Tramp’ album.Alongside sharing two images, Dessner also wrote a moving caption, explaining how the album impacted his career and stating that it still “remains so special” to him.“Tramp was the first record I produced,” he said.

Aaron Dessner of The National has announced a “special” New York show with Ed Sheeran.The pair will be playing at the King’s Theatre in Brooklyn on April 10 alongside a live band. They are set to perform Sheeran’s forthcoming album ‘-‘ in full, meaning the audience at that show will be the first to hear the unreleased songs on the record.

The National have shared a melancholy new song, ‘Eucalyptus’ – check it out below.The track’s release was announced yesterday and marks the third taster the band have shared, after ‘New Order T-Shirt’ and ‘Tropic Morning News’, to be taken from the band’s upcoming album ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’. The album is scheduled to drop on April 28 via 4AD and will feature collaborations with Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens. Per a press release, Bryce Dessner sent the song to Matt Berninger a long time ago, which he later added lyrics to after remembering the song.

The National will be releasing a new single, ‘Eucalyptus’, tomorrow (March 22).The track is set to the third single, after ‘New Order T-Shirt’ and ‘Tropic Morning News’, to be taken from the band’s upcoming album ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’. The album is scheduled to drop on April 28 via 4AD and will feature collaborations with Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens. ‘Eucalyptus’ might sound familiar to The National superfans, as the band previously played the song live last year on tour — check out footage below.Several other new songs have debuted in the same way, including ‘Tropic Morning News (Haversham)’ and Bon Iver collaboration ‘Weird Goodbyes’, as well as other as yet unreleased songs such as ‘Grease In Your Hair (Birdie)’, and ‘Bathwater (Mount Auburn)’.Speaking to NME about new music last year, The National’s guitarist Bryce Dessner said: “What I can say is that we’re at a high watermark in terms of our creativity as a band.

The National took to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform their new single ‘Tropic Morning News’ late last night (March 3) – check out the footage below.Earlier this year, The National confirmed details of their ninth studio album ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’.Set for release April 28, the album will feature collaborations with Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens.Alongside the album announce, the band also shared lead single ‘Tropic Morning News’ which they performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night. Check it out below:Co-written with frontman Matt Berninger’s wife Carin Besser, the track takes its title from a phrase Besser invented to describe the regrettably routine practice of doomscrolling.“The idea of referring to the darkness of the news in such a light way unlocked something in me,” said Berninger.

Aaron Dessner has opened up about his experience of working with Ed Sheeran on the latter’s upcoming fifth album, ‘-‘ (‘Subtract’).Sheeran announced the 14-track record earlier this week, saying that it reflects his “deepest darkest thoughts” against a backdrop of personal turmoil.“It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul,” the singer-songwriter explained. “For the first time I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life.”The National’s Dessner teamed up with Sheeran on writing and production for the LP.

The National have shared a second preview of their new album ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’ – listen to the moving ‘New Order T-Shirt’ below.The band’s ninth album, and first since 2019’s ‘I Am Easy To Find’, will be released on April 28 via 4AD and feature cameos from Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens. Swift will appear on ‘The Allcott’ while Bridgers is set to feature on ‘This Isn’t Helping’ and ‘Your Mind Is Not Your Friend’.

Bruce Springsteen and The National‘s Bryce Dessner have collaborated on a new song for Rebecca Miller’s film She Came To Me called ‘Addicted To Romance’.The romantic comedy starring Peter Dinklage as a moody classical composer is due to have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival this week.‘Addicted To Romance’, which was written and performed by Springsteen and orchestrated by Dessner, who also worked on the film’s score, will be heard for the first time during the screening on February 16.Speaking of Springsteen’s contribution to the film, Miller said (via Variety): “I really love Bruce’s music. For the end of ‘She Came to Me,’ we wanted an original song.

Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, have announced details of their self-titled debut album and shared its lead single.‘Complete Mountain Almanac’ was formed after Karijord set out to make an album “about climate change in 12 suites, representing the 12 months of the year,” and approached her friend of 15 years, Jessica – who works as a poet, dancer and multimedia artist based in Italy – to contribute “poetic and lyrical” elements to the project.The band and album’s title came from a book of poetry written by Jessica in the wake of her breast cancer diagnosis, as well as coming to reflect the environmental themes on the record. Watch the video for ‘May’, featuring a video directed by Olof Grind, below.The album was recorded at Paris’ St. Germain studios, and features instrumentation and co-production from both Aaron and Bryce Dessner.

The National have shared a remix of Neu!‘s 1972 track ‘Im Glück’ – you can listen to it below.Matt Berninger and co’s new interpretation of the song will feature as part of Neu!’s 50th anniversary boxset, which is due for release on September 23 via British-German label Grönland Records (pre-order here).The atmospheric eight-minute spin on ‘Im Glück’ will serve as the opening track on the 10-song ‘Tribute’ album. Other contributors include Idles, Mogwai, Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip, and Stephen Morris of New Order.Morris and Gabe Gurnsey shared their take on ‘Hallogallo’ back in June.

The National played a surprise, secret acoustic set at Edinburgh’s Connect Festival in memory of Frightened Rabbit‘s Scott Hutchison – see footage below.Yesterday (August 28) festival-goers were alerted to the message, “Secret set added – 7.45pm at the Tiny Changes x Gardeners Cottage”, and soon discovered that The National’s Matt Berninger, Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner were performing at the Scottish festival’s new stage to pay tribute to their late friend.The band, who were headlining the festival, played ‘Sorrow’ and ‘About Today’, telling the crowd for the latter track, “Whenever we play this one we think of Scott,” and singing the words, “Today…You were far away…and I… Didn’t ask you why“.The Tiny Changes x Gardeners Cottage was set up at the festival in association with Tiny Changes, the charity for supporting young people’s mental health that was set up in memory of Hutchison who died by suicide in 2018.It’s Scotland’s first national children and young people’s mental health charity and raised more than £4,500 during the course of the festival weekend.Scott performed at the original Connect Festival in 2006 on a similar stage.Aaron Dessner of The National said: “Thank you so much, it’s a pleasure to support Tiny Changes. Scott was a really close friend of ours, and like you guys, we were huge fans of Frightened Rabbit.“We were devastated when he left.

The National returned to London last night (August 26) to headline All Points East 2022 – watch them perform new single ‘Weird Goodbyes’ with Fleet Foxes‘ Robin Pecknold below.‘Weird Goodbyes’ was released last week and features Bon Iver‘s Justin Vernon on vocals. While introducing Pecknold, The National’s Aaron Dessner said that their friend and collaborator had never sung the song before.Elsewhere in the set, The National played another new song – ‘Tropic Morning News (Haversham)’ – and hits from across their back catalogue.Watch them play ‘Weird Goodbyes’ with Robin Pecknold and see the full setlist below.The National have been performing ‘Weird Goodbyes’ live since late May. They played it for the first time in Pamplona, Spain on May 28 – the first National show in three years – where it was billed on the setlist as ‘Bathwater (Mount Auburn)’.Speaking in a statement about ‘Weird Goodbyes’, The National’s Matt Berninger said: “It’s about letting go of the past and moving on, then later being overwhelmed by second thoughts.”On the process of making the single, the band’s Aaron Dessner added: “‘Weird Goodbyes’ was one of the first new songs we made.

The National will return to London on Friday (August 26) to headline All Points East 2022 – check out the full stage and performance times below.It will mark the band’s first show in the city since 2019, where they will be joined by a stellar cast of support acts including Mogwai, Fleet Foxes, Lucy Dacus, Kurt Vile and more.Across seven stages, the day also sees performances from Parcels, Tune-Yards, Perfume Genius and Rae Morris.The performance comes just a few days after The National unveiled their new single ‘Weird Goodbyes’, which features Bon Iver.Speaking in a statement about ‘Weird Goodbyes’, The National’s Matt Berninger said: “It’s about letting go of the past and moving on, then later being overwhelmed by second thoughts.”See the full stage times for The National at All Points East below, and buy your tickets here.Fleet Foxes: 8:00pm – 9:15pm Perfume Genius: 6:20pm – 7:00pm Lucy Dacus: 5:10pm – 5:50pm Valerie June: 4:00pm – 4:40pm Cassandra Jenkins: 3:00pm – 3:30pmNathan Fake: 5:45pm – 6:45pm Plaid: 4:30pm – 5:45pm Afrodeutsche: 3:15pm – 4:30pm Tasha: 2:00pm – 3:15pmParcels: 7:55pm – 8:55pm Public Service Broadcasting: 6:25pm – 7:25pm Balthazar: 5:15pm – 5:55pm DEHD: 4:10pm – 4:45pm Bess Atwell: 3:05 – 3:40pmMoa Moa: 8:10pm – 8:40pm Lewis Ofman: 6:30pm – 7:00pm Jana: 5:15pm – 5:45pm Mid Nite Life: 4:05pm – 4:35pmDWEAMS: 7:30pm – 8:00pm Phoebe Hall: 5:55pm – 6:25pm Honey Mooncie: 4:45pm – 5:15pm The Deep Blue: 3:40pm – 4:05pmRaw Silk: 7:00pm – 8:00pm Demae: 5:50pm – 6:20pm Lynda Dawn: 4:40pm – 5:10pm Lavender: 2:30pm – 3:00pm and 3:30pm – 4:00pmAll Points East 2022 began last weekend (August 19) with Gorillaz supported by IDLES, Turnstile, Yves Tumor, Self Esteem, Femi Kuti, Obongjayar, NewDad, Remi

The National have today (August 22) released their emotive new single ‘Weird Goodbyes’, which features Bon Iver – you can listen to the song below.The track has been teased for some time, with the two artists finally confirming their collaboration last week.Speaking in a statement about ‘Weird Goodbyes’, The National’s Matt Berninger said: “It’s about letting go of the past and moving on, then later being overwhelmed by second thoughts.”On the process of making the single, the band’s Aaron Dessner added: “‘Weird Goodbyes’ was one of the first new songs we made. I was misusing drum machines, as usual, and stumbled onto this beat that got stuck in my head – it felt like something only Bryan could naturally play.

The National‘s Aaron Dessner says he has “picked up a focus” in his songwriting and production since working with Taylor Swift.Dessner co-produced and wrote on Swift’s 2020 albums ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’, and also worked on numerous “From the Vault” tracks that appear on Swift’s re-recorded versions of ‘Fearless’ and ‘Red’ that arrived last year.Last March, after ‘Folklore’ won a Grammy for Album of the Year, Dessner credited Swift with “restoring [his] faith in music,” and has opened up again on the influence she has had on him in a new interview.Speaking to The i, Dessner said: “Even just working with Taylor, she’s a brilliant musician and so experienced in terms of making records, so I was learning from her – I picked up a focus, and also just the joy that she has.”Of working in the pandemic, he added: “It was almost like I was in some crazy boot camp for making a tonne of music really fast and fully producing it and then it would be released quickly.”Though he has said in the past that “this story, this era, has concluded” with ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’, Dessner has confirmed that he anticipates that he and Swift “will continue to be in each other’s artistic and personal lives. I don’t know exactly what the next form that will take, but certainly, it will continue.”After his work with Swift and a host of other artists including King Princess, Dessner is now working on a new album with The National.Ahead of their headline show at London’s All Points East next week (August 26), Aaron’s twin brother Bryce Dessner has spoken to NME about the new material, and whether Aaron’s work with Swift will have attracted new fans to the band.

The National‘s Bryce Dessner has spoken to NME about what to expect from the band’s new material, as well as looking ahead to their remaining summer shows.During their run of 2022 festival dates, the indie veterans have been playing a number of brand new songs. Among them is ‘Weird Goodbyes’, a collaboration with Bon Iver which is due to be released imminently.Speaking to NME about the new batch of tracks, Dessner said: “We wanted to road-test songs.

The National appear to be on the precipice of a new single release, as posters for a song titled ‘Weird Goodbyes’ (featuring Bon Iver) have begun to circulate.The band have been performing ‘Weird Goodbyes’ live, sans the guest spot from Bon Iver – which, presumably, will comprise some of its lyrics being sung by Justin Vernon – since late May. They played it for the first time in Pamplona, Spain on May 28 – the first National show to go down in three years – where it was billed on the setlist as ‘Bathwater (Mount Auburn)’. It’s been performed at seven show since, including this week’s headliner in Dillon, Colorado and at the Outlandia festival on Friday (August 12).

Bartees Strange joined The National onstage at two of the band’s recent shows, contributing guest vocals to a rendition of ‘Mistaken For Strangers’.Strange, who is supporting The National on four of their North American shows this month, performed the ‘Boxer’ standout with the band at concerts in Calgary and Missoula this week.“Special thanks to [Strange] for playing a better version of Lemonworld than ours and joining us on Mistaken For Strangers,” The National wrote on Instagram following the Calgary show.

Gracie Abrams spoke to NME backstage at Lollapalooza 2022 and told us her songwriting process, what it’s like to work with The National‘s Aaron Dessner, and the potential name of an unreleased track she just performed live. Watch our interview above.Hours before taking on the festival’s Discord stage Saturday (July 30), one of her first performances since going on tour with Olivia Rodrigo, Abrams told us Chicago was one of her “favourite cities to play in.”“Having been here a couple of times on tour, they’re just the greatest people,” Abrams said.

The National have debuted a new song at this year’s Newport Folk Festival – check out the moment below.The new song is called ‘Space Invaders (Threaded Gold)’ and comes after the band performed three other new songs in Spain back in May. At that gig, the National aired ‘Tropic Morning News (Haversham)’, ‘Grease In Your Hair (Birdie)’, and ‘Bathwater (Mount Auburn)’.Check out the latest new song below:In a social media post shared in May, The National revealed that they have been working on new material. “Rehearsals are underway,” they wrote on Instagram.

Bleachers‘ set at Newport Folk Festival on Saturday (July 23), Jack Antonoff and band were joined onstage by Clairo and Lucy Dacus to perform a cover of The National‘s ‘High Violet’ standout ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’.The National had performed at the festival the following evening, while Clairo and Dacus were also on the line-up. The National guitarist Bryce Dessner commented on Antonoff’s Instagram shortly after the performance, writing: “Thank you for singing bloodbuzz! I wish we could have done it with you all.”Watch fan-shot footage of the rendition below:@bleachersmusic joined by @lucydacus and @clairo for some Bloodbuzz Ohio at @Newportfolkfest pic.twitter.com/QIpf7Tq17d— α.

The National returning to London for a huge headline slot at All Points East in August, the band have shared exclusive footage of them performing fan favourite ‘I Should Live In Salt’ from their summer 2022 tour. See it first on NME above.The band will headline the festival in the capital’s Victoria Park once again on August 26.

The National have announced the full line-up for their All Points East show in London later this summer, with Parcels, Tune-Yards and more joining the bill.The band will headline Victoria Park on August 26, with the likes of Fleet Foxes, Lucy Dacus, Kurt Vile and more already confirmed to support them.Other APE headline sets across two weekends in August will come from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Tame Impala, Kraftwerk, The Chemical Brothers, Disclosure and Gorillaz.The full bill has now been confirmed for The National’s show, with Parcels and Tune-Yards being joined by Villagers, Valerie June, Balthazar and Dehd.Others also on the line-up include Perfume Genius, Low and Rae Morris.See the full line-up below and pick up tickets here.We are so pleased to be headlining such a brilliant lineup for @allpointseastuk at Victoria Park in London this August. Tickets are on sale now at https://t.co/hkOWVSGvIL pic.twitter.com/SQl2oZsj8Q— The National (@TheNational) June 29, 2022The National returned to touring last month, giving live debuts to three new songs at the tour-opening show in Pamplona, Spain on Saturday, May 28.Footage of those songs – ‘Tropic Morning News (Haversham)’, ‘Grease In Your Hair (Birdie)’, and ‘Bathwater (Mount Auburn)’ – then appeared from a later gig in Paris.In a social media post shared last month (May 26), The National said that they have been working on new material.