Function Specific

Alligator was no accident. I was worried, the critics were worried, even The National was worried that their next album would not and could not match their previous effort, Alligator. Everyone can rest easy. Not only does The National’s newest album Boxer, rise up to Alligator’s lofty accolades, but possibly eclipses them. Dark, romantic, but not over the top mushy lyrics work side by side powerful, edgy, imagery filled phrases that stay with you long after the album ends. The voice of Mat Berninger has never sounded better, as he lays out seemingly simple but at a closer look, deep, thoughtful and soulful lyrics. Everything on this album is tuned and tweaked to perfection. You can really hear the time and effort put into the songs to get the most out of every chord, note and lyric, it simply shines.

It is easy to listen to Boxer and hear the classical guitars, the simple piano and drums, and know why this album is so great, but there is something more than here than all those things that make this album so easy to connect with. Boxer makes a run straight to the top so far in 2007, making it hard for anybody to catch it.

I will likely post some more thoughts on this album and maybe rewrite this post, as I just realized how poorly I wrote it, but for now I just want to listen.

9.8/10