Musical Thesis: The National “Sleep Well Beast”

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At the center of every album is a musical thesis. This thesis can be the driving force behind the album, a theme that interweaves songs together, or a feeling you are left with after the very last song plays. With some albums, the thesis is easy to find. On others, it is hidden and requires you to be more than a passive listener. These reviews are not about rating an album. Instead, it is about uncovering a musical thesis.

The National has a special ability to construct songs that seem like they are being sung into a mirror in which you find yourself staring. Their work on “Sleep Well Beast” is no different. The same inwardly focused building and destruction we have come to appreciate from their work are still there. What feels different this time around and more central is open contentment with mortality. In many of these songs, I hear a group of artists who collectively know their time is finite. As a listener, you are left to look in the mirror and think about your own life. You are going to die. Your time is not infinite. Now what?

Be good to each other,

Nathan