The National is working on the follow-up to its critically acclaimed 2013 record, Trouble Will Find Me, but don't expect the band to go it alone. As fans well know, the "I Need My Girl" band is working on a compilation of Grateful Dead covers, and have enlisted the likes of Vampire Weekend, The War On Drugs, Bon Iver and many more artists for the upcoming covers album, which has finally gotten a bit more detail.
According to Stereogum, since 2011 The National have been planning and working on a Grateful Dead compilation album and now fans have some official names to put to the music, even if the band is still editing down the list of 70 contributions they've yet to cut.
Those artists also include Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, UMO, Perfume Genius, F*cked Up, Stephen Malkmus, Phosphorescent, J Mascis, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen, Lee Ranaldo, and Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan.
Fans can get a taste of one of the most exciting covers off the project from a 2011-phone recording of The War On Drugs performing a live version of "Touch Of Grey."
"Last year, I was in the studio with the War On Drugs when they recorded 'Touch Of Grey' for the compilation, which sounds like it could be a Lost In The Dream outtake," said Matt Berninger, frontman for The National.
Whereas Beringer has been the lead writer in the past, he said the new album is a more collaborative effort and marks a change for the band. Aaron Dessner, multi-instrumentalist for the band, said it sounds "brighter," "harsher" and "a bit razory."
Simply put, Berninger calls 15 of the new songs "very f*cking amazing."
The album is still in the early stages of recording so there's no release date scheduled at this time. On the other hand, the long awaited Grateful Dead collaboration is set for a release of "early next year."
