The National – Tropic Morning News Review

All of this feels desperately futile, like hunting down adjectives in a rainforest armed with a blunderbuss and a vague interest in the topic at hand. Whatever can or can’t be said of The National’s latest track will make not a lick of difference. Whatever they say means little too. Moments come and go and Tropic Morning News takes aim at that fleeting information. Nobody remembers what happened the day before. Nobody will remember the day after that either. American dad rock remembers, though. The National have slipped their way into that crowd and brought their post-punk indietronica with them. Charting another offering, regular as clockwork, gives off the competence and security found in Tropic Morning News.  

Nothingness imagery, a child holding the severed mannequin head named Paul, it all comes as an affront to Frankenstein’s monster. Not every image holds meaning, but Tropic Morning News has a core base that will listen to it in times of sad and reluctant nostalgia or joyful desire to hear something familiar. Tropic Morning News will catch some returning listeners out and marks a decent entry for The National newcomers. The National’s image has changed and one of the crucial movements made here is a push for lighter riffs and stronger lyrics. Their imagery is good. Severed mannequins adorned with name tags present that sewn together monstrosity. Heartaches and a desire to move on are the core of this track, wanting to be “through with it”. 

Futile and tired notions of what “it” is come through with some obvious clarity. Another track to knock back at the news and all its miserable qualities. C’est la vie. That is what is on currently. Aaron Dessner of The National said that he found the lyrics of Tropic Morning News to be “almost Dylan-esque” so it is good to see the band is still living away from the real world. Perhaps that is where the tropical news comes from, the island of their own, projected self-worth. Tropic Morning News is a catchy tune, an acceptable track that sees itself through and projects notions of suffering in silence onto the listener. Hooks, beats and rhythms. They are all there in standard expectation. For a track discovering the difficulties of expression, it is a touch ironic that Tropic Morning News has trouble with confiding in its listener. 

But there are moments and moments matter more than anything else now. Tropic Morning News is filled with moments. It is Dylan-esque, is it not? How is it? Fractured laments strike out at those who are unsure of themselves as the wet notes and loud concoctions make their way through as they do on other tracks from The National. Paced well, with all those usual clamours for their continuing and traditional sounds. Very loose in its meaning, less than stellar work from The National but thoroughly upbeat and at least enjoyable in the radio-ready bursts it offers. Suffering more than they let on, The National open the lead-up to their latest album with those inevitable, amicable qualities that are hard to grow tired of but harder still to feel excited for.