The National- “England” High Violet

There are a lot of overrated things in this world. Liver, The Rolling Stones, Cats (the musical and the animal)- these come to mind. You know who is not overrated? The National. Despite the hype this band gets, they never cease to impress me. High Violet, the bands highly acclaimed new release is a flawless collection of 11 powerfully executed songs. Choosing a song to post here, for instance, was almost impossible. But I think “England” really captures all the elements of a great National song: subtle yet clever lyricism combined with perfectly constructed instrumental builds and a singer whose deep, rough voice reaches into the pit of your stomach. I was going to post the song, but again, I have a situation of the file being too big, and I really don’t feel like cutting the song. So here is the band preforming a fairly solid version live. With string section!