The National - Laugh TrackThe surprise companion to The National's April release First Two Pages of Frankenstein, Laugh Track is the band's most freewheeling, all hands on deck album in years. If Frankenstein represented a rebuilding of trust between group members after 20+ years together, the vibrant, exploratory Laugh Track is both the product of that faith and a new statement of intent. Reveling in the license to radically upend its creative process, The National honed most

åÊ Inspired by the indifference of the city the band calls home and the sad events that can happen to the characters within it

Available on blue/green swirl vinyl

” or the blue-skies bridge of “Belinda Says

The plan was to take a post-tour break and track some ideas that could be worked on remotely until everyone got back together in the early summer

” This phase of the band is defined by the songwriting partnership and unique interplay of Lawrence and guitarist Maurice Deebank

produced by Ian Curtis and Rob Gretton of Joy Division way back in 1979

Buy if you dig: Sabbath Worship

all spread over a 12-page full-size magazine and two bespoke inner sleeves

marked by lush harmonies

reflecting the varying travails of late capitalism

giving in - just because it can be comforting to hear it from someone else

Produced by Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes