Returning to the same dark, isolated sound from their third album, Alligator, that brought them into the spotlight, The National’s fourth attempt not only continues with that sound, but utilizes melodic string arrangements and the occasional trumpet to evolve into something wonderful.
Lead singer Matt Burninger’s voice evokes the brooding baritone of Interpol’s Paul Banks. Though, where Interpol fails by creating overwhelmingly boring music, The National‘s layers of dueling guitars, piano, strings and trumpets, in spite of being significantly slower in tempo, never seem to provoke the same level of drowsiness, if any at all.
In fact, the album does an amazing job at balancing that lonely sound with something ultimately beautiful. The album’s first track, “Fake Empire,” begins with a somber piano and slowly builds to include a grandiose string and trumpet section very reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens, which is not coincidental. Sufjan makes an appearance on the album contributing piano to two of the album’s standout tracks: “Ada” and “Racing Like a Pro.” The latter of which sounds like it could have been lifted right off of Illinois. Guitar and strings swirl around the slow, piano driven track while Burninger sings of his fear of middle-class assimilation, “Your mind is racing like a pro, now/ oh my god it doesn’t mean a lot to you/ one time you were a glowing young ruffian/ oh my god it was a million years ago.”
Burninger’s fears, especially that of middle-class assimilation and the ultimate disengagement from the world that soon follows, seem to be a recurring theme throughout the album. Lyrics such as “Were half awake in a fake empire,” from “Fake Empire” and “Underline everything, I’m a professional in my white shirt,” from “Squalor Victoria” evoke these fears of what mediocrity can be.
Boxer is well worth a listen, and with wonderfully crafted songs and brilliant lyrics, this is an album that just gets better with each listen.
