The National's New Album I AM EASY TO FIND Out 5/17 On 4AD
By: Tori Hartshorn May. 14, 2019
The 24-minute film directed by Academy Award-nominated Mike Mills (20th Century Women, Beginners) and starring Academy Award Winner Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl, Ex-Machina) featuring new music by The National is now available on www.iameasytofind.com. The film was inspired by the band's forthcoming album of the same name which will be released this Friday, May 17th on 4AD.
"I Am Easy To Find" was recently screened during five intimate sold out shows in Paris, New York, London, Toronto and Los Angeles followed by a Q+A with Mike Mills and members of The National. The Julien Baker hosted New York Q+A is available to view here. In addition, film commentary by both Mills (here) and The National frontman Matt Berninger and his wife and co-lyricist Carin Besser (here) have also been released.
On September 3, 2017, director Mike Mills emailed Matt Berninger to introduce himself and in very short order, the most ambitious project of the National's nearly 20-year career was born and plans for a hard-earned vacation died. The Los Angeles-based filmmaker was coming off his third feature, 20th Century Women, and was interested in working with the band on...something. A video maybe. Berninger, already a fan of Mills' films, not only agreed to collaborate, he essentially handed over the keys to the band's creative process.
The two projects are, as Mills calls them, "Playfully hostile siblings that love to steal from each other"-they share music and words and DNA and impulses and a vision about what it means to be human in 2019, but don't necessarily need one another.
The result is I Am Easy to Find, a 24-minute film by Mills starring Alicia Vikander, and I Am Easy to Find, a 68-minute album by the National.
"The National gave me the stems for their songs, some were sketches some were finished and encouraged and allowed me to create my own versions of the songs to score the film. The album then features different versions of these same 7 songs - and 9 new songs which sometimes refer to the themes, texts, ideas from the film - but are their own work, their own piece of art," says Mills.
The former is not the video for the latter; the latter is not the soundtrack to the former. The movie was composed like a piece of music; the music was assembled like a film, by a film director. The frontman and natural focal point was deliberately and dramatically sidestaged in favor of a variety of female voices, nearly all of whom have long been in the group's orbit. It is unlike anything either artist has ever attempted and also totally in line with how they've created for much of their careers. The film, shot all on location near Pomona, CA, took only 5 days to shoot, but is comprised of 164 scenes. The production design is sparse and minimal, consisting only of one chair, a bed, rug, and couch used over and over in the film. Beautifully shot by Daniel Voldheim and edited for about 8 months by Aaron Beckum.
I Am Easy To Find, the album, was produced by Mike Mills and The National at Long Pond, Hudson Valley, NY.
Read more about I Am Easy To Find HERE.
I Am Easy To Find Tracklisting
- You Had Your Soul With You
- Quiet Light
- Roman Holiday
- Oblivions
- The Pull Of You
- Hey Rosey
- I Am Easy To Find
- Her Father In The Pool
- Where Is Her Head
- Not In Kansas
- So Far So Fast
- Dust Swirls In Strange Light
- Hairpin Turns
- Rylan
- Underwater
- Light Years
The National on Tour:
5/16 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
6/11 - Philadelphia, PA @ Mann Center*
6/12 - Brooklyn, NY @ Prospect Park Bandshell*
6/13 - Brooklyn, NY @ Prospect Park Bandshell*
6/15 - Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
6/16 - Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy*
6/17 - St Augustine, FL @ St Augustine Amphitheatre*
6/19 - Washington, DC @ The Anthem*
6/20 - Portland, ME @ Thompson's Point*
6/21 - Montreal, QC @ Place des Arts
6/22 - Hamilton, ON @ Pier 8**
6/24 - Columbus, OH @ Express Live*
6/25 - Ann Arbor, MI @ Hill Auditorium*
6/26 - Indianapolis, IN @ Lawn at White River*
6/28 - Chicago, IL @ Northerly Island**
7/10 - Manchester, UK @ Castlefield Bowl
7/12 - Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool Festival
7/13 - London, UK @ Hyde Park
7/15 - Frankfurt, DE @ Jahrhunderthalle
7/16 - Hamburg, DE @ Stadtpark
7/18 - Rättvik, SE @ Dalhalla
8/4 - Waterford, IE @ All Together Now
8/6 - Glasgow, UK @ Summer Nights at the Bandstand
8/7 - Glasgow, UK @ Summer Nights at the Bandstand
8/9 - Sicily, IT @ Ypsigrock
8/10 - Budapest, HU @ Sziget Festival
8/11 - Buftea, RO @ Summer Well
8/14 - Paredes de Coura, PT @ Paredes de Coura
8/16 - Hasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop
8/16 -- 8/18 - Biddinghuizen, NL @ Lowlands
8/18 - Hasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop
8/28 - Vancouver, BC @ Deer Lake Park**
8/29 - Seattle, WA @ Marymoor Park**
8/30 - Portland, OR @ Edgefield**
9/1 - Stanford, CA @ Frost Amphitheater**
9/2 - Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre**
9/3 - Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theatre**
9/5 - Ogden, UT @ Ogden Amphitheater**
9/6 - Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom**
9/7 - Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom**
9/8 - Santa Fe, NM @ Santa Fe Opera House**
9/10 - Austin, TX @ Austin360 Amphitheatre**
9/11 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall**
10/16 - Mexico City, MX @ Pepsi Center
10/24 - Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena
11/25 - Warsaw, PL @ Torwar Hall
11/26 - Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
11/27 - Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
11/29 - Copenhagen, DK @ Royal Arena
12/1 - Bochum, DE @ Ruhrcongress
12/2 - Cologne, DE @ Palladium
12/3 - Zurich, SW @ Samsung Hall
12/4 - Munich, DE @ Zenith
12/5 - Stuttgart, DE @ Porsche Arena
*w/ Courtney Barnett
**w/ Alvvays
The National have established themselves as mainstays of arenas and festivals with sold-out performances and headlining slots around the world. With the release of their most recent album, 2017 GRAMMY®-award winning Sleep Well Beast, The National achieved their highest chart position in the US to date, coming in at #2 on the Billboard Top 200. In addition they scored #1's in the UK, Ireland, Portugal and Canada and their highest chart position ever in a total of eleven countries. The National also claimed their first #1 at commercial radio on the Triple-A radio chart with "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness." The songs off Sleep Well Beast are instantly recognizable as The National, but their sound has evolved and expanded.
More about The National
Both individually and collectively The National's members have been involved in countless artistic, charitable and socio-political pursuits. The group released "A Lot of Sorrow" documenting their collaboration with installation artist Ragnar Kjartansson, that took place at MOMA's PS1 and saw the band play their song "Sorrow" for six hours in front of a live audience. They are behind the Red Hot benefit albums Dark Was The Night and Day Of The Dead, and the compilation boxed set titled 7-Inches for Planned Parenthood. Band member's have received a Golden Globe Nomination for work on the score of the 2015 film Revenant, founded or play a major part in MusicNow, Eaux Claires and Haven Festival and Boston Calling, and participated heavily in both Obama Presidential Campaigns, and much more.
2013 also saw the theatrical release of their documentary, Mistaken For Strangers set to the backdrop of the band's 2010 release High Violet. The documentary was chosen to premiere on the opening night of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival followed by a theatrical release in the US and worldwide distribution. Over their 16-year career the band has sold more than 2 million albums in the U.S. alone.
The National consists of Matt Berninger (vocals) fronting two pairs of brothers: Aaron (guitar, bass, piano) and Bryce Dessner (guitar, piano), and Scott (bass, guitar) and Bryan Devendorf (drums).
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