Trouble Will Find Me is the sixth studio
album by American indie rock band The
National, released on May 17, 2013 on
4AD.
Produced by band members Aaron and Bryce
Dessner, the album features appearances
from St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten,
Doveman, Sufjan Stevens, Nona Marie
Invie, of Dark Dark Dark fame, and
Richard Reed Parry, of Arcade Fire.
The album received widespread critical
acclaim upon its release. Trouble Will
Find Me reached number three on both the
Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart.
The album was nominated for Best
Alternative Music Album at the 56th
Annual Grammy Awards.
Background
The National began writing Trouble Will
Find Me towards the end of the band's
tour in support of previous album, High
Violet. Regarding the tour's completion,
and the collective mental state of the
band at this time, lead vocalist Matt
Berninger noted, "[We] felt satisfied at
the end of touring High Violet. It was
the first time ever, or at least in the
past ten years, where we felt like we
could put the band on the shelf for a
little while, put a record out in three,
four years. There wasn’t any sense of,
'what now?'"
Berninger, however, became inspired by
guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner's
recent demo recordings, and subsequently
completed his writing contributions to
the album's opening track, "I Should
Live in Salt", a day after initially
hearing it. Bass guitarist Scott
Devendorf noted, "Our typical way of
working was to send stuff to Matt, then
wait a while to get some mumbles back.
He seemed really motivated and engaged
with the new stuff."
Recording
The band began recording Trouble Will
Find Me in late September 2012, at a
converted barn in Rhinebeck, New York,
named Clubhouse. Bass guitarist Scott
Devendorf stated that Clubhouse was
chosen primarily to establish
camaraderie amongst the band, noting:
"The impetus to record upstate--
cooking, eating, working, hanging out
together - was to achieve this
music-camp feel." The first four days of
recording were interrupted by a tornado
which subsequently led to a power cut.
Guitarist, keyboardist and co-producer
Aaron Dessner noted, "That night, by
candlelight in the total darkness, we
got really drunk and played the songs
acoustically. It was the kind of scene
that has never happened in the history
of our band — and will never happen
again."
The band subsequently relocated to
Dreamland Studios - located within a
converted 19th century church, in West
Hurley, New York - to record the track,
"Fireproof", entirely live. Inspired by
the session, the band returned to
Clubhouse and recorded both "Sea of
Love" and "Heavenfaced" as one-take live
performances. Recording at Clubhouse,
however, was once again derailed by
Hurricane Sandy, with Aaron Dessner
stating, "I drove back into the city
because I was worried about my family
and the potential flooding, and got
stuck there for four days."
Dessner, who co-produced Trouble Will
Find Me alongside his brother Bryce,
noted that his experiences producing
both Sharon Van Etten's Tramp and Local
Natives' Hummingbird led him to
understand the importance of
"constructive, positive dialogue" in the
recording studio, whereas before he and
his bandmates would often argue
throughout the process.
Composition
Inspired by the recent birth of his
daughter, Ingrid Stella Dessner,
guitarist, keyboardist and co-producer
Aaron Dessner began writing music with
his child in mind. Vocalist Matt
Berninger noted that he "react[ed] to it
in a very visceral, immediate, infantile
way."
The lyrics to the album's opening track,
"I Should Live in Salt", are directed
towards Matt Berninger's brother, Tom,
who directed the forthcoming band
documentary, Mistaken for Strangers.
Berninger stated that he enjoyed the
writing process for Trouble Will Find Me
noting, "In the past, it’s been hard to
enjoy writing - like getting drops of
blood from your forehead - but I loved
the process for this record. I think a
lot of it was because I wasn't worried -
I didn't care what the songs were going
to be about, or if they were going to
seem depressing, or cool, or whatever."
Promotion
On December 8, 2011 the band performed
on CBC Radio show Q in front of a live
audience. Two new songs were performed
for the first time: "Rylan" and "I Need
My Girl." "I Need My Girl" is featured
on the album. The band embarked on a
tour with the Dirty Projectors to
support the album. When asked about the
album, Aaron Dessner, the guitarist,
said "our ideas would immediately click
with each other. It's free-wheeling
again. The songs on one level are our
most complex, and on another they're our
most simple and human. It just feels
like we've embraced the chemistry we
have."
On April 25, 2013 the band performed
album track "Sea of Love" on Late Night
with Jimmy Fallon. A music video for
"Sea of Love", which alludes to Russian
punk rock band Zvuki Mu's music video
for their 1995 single "Grubiy Zakat",
was released on the band's official
YouTube account on May 8, 2013.
= Singles=
"Demons" was released as the first
single from Trouble Will Find Me. The
song peaked at number thirteen on the
Belgian Ultratip singles chart for the
Flanders region and at number sixty-four
on the Irish Singles Chart. Its music
video, released on August 8, 2013,
features a time-lapse video depicting
the creation of a Trouble Will Find Me
mural.
"Don't Swallow the Cap" was released to
American modern rock radio on April 22
as the album's second single. The single
peaked at number seven on the Flanders
Ultratip chart.
"Graceless" impacted triple A radio on
August 26, with the music video being
posted to the band's YouTube channel on
August 27 and a release to modern rock
radio following on August 29. "I Need My
Girl" was released to modern rock radio
on January 28, 2014 as the album's
fourth single.
Reception
= Critical reception=
Trouble Will Find Me has received
universal critical acclaim. At
Metacritic, which assign an average
score out of 100 to reviews and ratings
from mainstream music critics, the album
has received a Metascore of 84, based on
44 reviews.
James Christopher Monger found that the
band "perfected their sound the last
time around", which means that "it’s
hard to fault them for sticking so close
to the fire". At American Songwriter,
Jim Beviglia told that "progress may not
be the right word [...] but sustained
brilliance is a pretty good
alternative." Consequence of Sound's
Megan Ritt said that the release
"outlines the confidence to expand and
experiment with the formula, paired with
the skills to do it justice." Maddy
Costa of The Guardian felt that "the
subtlety, and the self-awareness" made
the album "exquisite." At The
Independent, Andy Gill proclaimed that
the effort "will surely cement their
accession to the rock mainstream."
Andrew Burgess of musicOMH called the
release "a collection of waves that
never break" that in all actuality
"catharsis never comes," but the album
contains "glimpses of light coming
through at the edges, and a sense of
perfect order among the chaos."
Pitchfork's Ian Cohen rated the album an
8.4-out-of-ten, and told that the
release is "both relatable and
fantastical", which is "their most
self-referential album." At Now,
Samantha Burgess claimed that "on
Trouble Will Find Me, they’ve perfected
it, knowing when a hook should explode
and when to hold back and let
Berninger’s signature, sombre baritone
take over." Paul Mardles of The Observer
affirmed that The National "have
perfected their ruminative rock, the
beauty of their intricate arrangements
ensuring the end product never sounds
pedestrian", and called them "the real
stars of the show." At Rolling Stone,
David Fricke discovered that on this
album "The National are letting light
and air into their shadows." At Uncut,
Louis Pattison rated the album an
8-out-of-10, and he alluded to how the
release "suggest an uncertain soundtrack
can still be a source of comfort", which
is the reason he thought that "for the
first time, The National sound relaxed
in their skin." Ryan E.C. Hamm of Under
the Radar called this a "cohesive
experience" that is yet "another
accomplished entry".
However, Q magazine had another point of
view and published a negative review,
saying: "For a band who sing so often
about matters of the heart and emotional
connection, much of Trouble Will Find Me
sounds oddly on autopilot."
Trouble Will Find Me has made numerous
"albums of the year" lists including
Pitchfork Media, Rolling Stone and
Paste.
= Commercial performance=
Trouble Will Find Me debuted at #3 on
the US Billboard 200 with 74,722 copies
sold in its first week. It has sold
250,000 copies in the US alone. The
album made top-ten debuts in fourteen
countries other than the US.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Matt
Berninger and Aaron Dessner, except
where noted. 
Personnel
Charts
= Year-end charts=
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Release history
References
