NATIONAL - Boxer

Labelling the National, and specifically their latest, splendid, "Boxer", as yet another Joy Division–oriented record is rather misleading.

Misleading and wrong. The album is rooted in the most classic new wave, with tracks like "Mistaken For Strangers", which Interpol themselves would pay to have written, boasting outstanding work on the rhythm section, or "Guest Room", same territory, same melancholy and off-beat drumming, a jewel for the ears, perhaps their most representative song.

Although, and you just need to read the credits, the vast majority of the songs are the result of collective composition, it's the incredible voice of Matt Berninger (I'll throw it out there, the new Leonard Cohen?) that truly dominates, adding that something which so many similar bands lack. You can sense the depth, in the composition and in the way it settles between the notes, as in the splendid closer "Gospel", a ballad built entirely on piano and voice, with an underlying texture that conjures memories of apocalyptic folk, much like the whole record does. And this too is the strength of "Boxer": knowing it's not just any old album, being aware that it wants to be a little bit of everything and a little bit of nothing. An even disenchanted record, with ice-cold words like "Start a war", which joins forces with "Green Gloves" and "Guest Room" at the heart of the tracklist, two songs that seem out of context, almost like soundtracks to a winter that never arrived yet remains marked on the calendar. An undeniable fact, confined to three months, while the band's notes slip away, evoking memories and feelings. With class, not meant as a mere stylistic exercise or in a sense of coldness. The same class as the Nick Cave who wrote "Murder Ballads" or the Joy Division who wrote "Closer".

The artistry, taste and study of the past that emerges from its grooves allow "Boxer" to claim a place of honor among the albums of the year. One last note, almost a plea: this isn't exactly a difficult record, but in its own way it demands more than one listen so as not to be judged too uniform, flat and monotone. If you can, do this: listen to it once, then rest for a while, go back to "Squalor Victoria", and ask yourself how many bands or songwriters you've heard write a song like this, one where you can lose yourself among the sparse notes of a piano, drumming that sounds like it came straight out of "Warsaw", and an ending like that. An ending you wish would never come. There's hope in the world if there are still people with the courage to write albums like this. Or rather: if there are still people who manage to write albums like this.

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21/05/2007