The National have said that they are in a “very creative space” and are in the “gardening phase” of writing new material.
The band dropped two albums in 2023 – ‘The First Two Pages Of Frankenstein‘ and ‘Laugh Track‘ – but this hasn’t stopped new ideas from gestating.
“There’s a lot of music, so that means a lot of new music for us to play,” bassist Scott Devendorf told NME at Glastonbury. “We’ve really tried to mix up the setlist a lot and try to be more dynamic in that way just because it’s interesting for everyone.”
Asked if there’s more music to come from that universe, Matt Berninger said: “No, we kind of purged ourselves. Once we started writing again, I wrote almost everything that was in the folders and made a song out of everything. Now the folders are filling up. I’ve been writing a lot, but I think we’re just gonna take it nice and slow. The garden is full of seeds. But we don’t know when it’s gonna start to bloom or anything like that. We’re in a very creative space – we’re in a gardening phase. Gardening at night!”
Watch our video interview with the band above.
Elsewhere in the interview, Berninger explained why he doesn’t like knowing what will be on the band’s setlist for the night. “In not knowing, every time it’s like a new flavoured gum ball and I get to take that little red pill and go to that song in a new way every time. If I knew what all the songs are gonna be, I think I wouldn’t be able to let go as much and just enjoy it. That’s why I’m enjoying it so much, because I have no idea what’s happening.”
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The pair also said that they have had an influx of Taylor Swift fans coming to their shows who have found themselves “bewildered” by the experience. As such, they said their gigs are now being attended by younger fans.
They have also collaborated with Swift previously. They featured on ‘Coney Island’, a track from ‘Evermore’, while Swift appeared on ‘The Alcott’, from the band’s 2023 album ‘First Two Pages of Frankenstein’.
The National’s guitarist, Aaron Dessner, has worked with Swift a lot over the last few years – they worked together for the first time on her 2020 album ‘Folklore’, and again on ‘Evermore’ and ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.
NME asked if The National could show up at one of Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour shows, but Berninger said that it wasn’t likely. “I don’t think so. It is fun – that whole bridge has been a really, really fruitful thing for our whole band, not just Aaron,” he said. “Obviously, Aaron’s been having such a great time and making so much great stuff with her, and the Taylor Swift bridge has been there for a long time. But no, we’re not.”
He continued: “We get asked that a lot. We see a lot of Taylor Swift fans coming to shows and being bewildered by the first 25 minutes or so. We’ve been blessed with demographics that are across the spectrum.
“Then 10 or 15 years ago, a lot of younger people started coming – more and more women. The first 10 years was kind of a dude-fest at most of our shows, but that’s changed a lot. At our shows we have all kinds of old friends and they’re always different.”
The National’s upcoming UK tour dates, including a huge show at Crystal Palace Park, are below. Visit here for tickets and more information.
JULY
4 – Manchester, UK – Castlefield Bowl
5 – London, UK – Crystal Palace Park
11 – Edinburgh, UK – Edinburgh Castle