''High Violet'' is the fifth studio album by
The National, which was released on May 10, 2010, in Europe and on May 11, 2010, in North America via
4AD
4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...
. The band produced the album themselves, assisted by
Peter Katis
Peter Katis is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer, audio engineer, mixer, and musician.
Katis is best known for working with alternative and indie rock bands. He works primarily out of his own residential studio, Tarquin Studios, ...
with whom they worked on their previous albums ''
Alligator
An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...
'' and ''
Boxer'' at their own studio in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, and at Katis' Tarquin Studios in
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...
.
[4AD - The National reveal further details for High Violet](_blank)
The sculpture on the album cover was created by artist Mark Fox, and is called ''The Binding Force''.
An expanded edition of ''High Violet'' was released through 4AD on November 22, 2010.
The reissue includes the standard 11-track album along with a new bonus disc, featuring the unreleased tracks "You Were a Kindness" and "Wake Up Your Saints" as well as alternate versions, B-sides, and live recordings.
Release
On March 10, 2010, they performed opening track "Terrible Love" on ''
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon, '', two months before the album's release.
The album's first single "Bloodbuzz Ohio" was made available for download on the band's website on March 24, 2010. The song was also released on 7" vinyl (with the exclusive B-side "Sin-Eaters") on May 3, 2010.
On April 19, 2010, a low-quality version of the album was leaked onto the internet in its entirety which prompted the band to announce that the album would be streaming on ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
website from April 23 until April 27,
[The National Agenda - NYTimes.com](_blank)
/ref> then on NPR
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
's website until May 11.
On May 13, 2010, the band played "Afraid of Everyone" on the ''Late Show with David Letterman
''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...
''. Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released ten solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomina ...
sang backup for them during this performance.
''High Violet'' sold 51,000 copies in its first week of sales, charting at number three on the ''Billboard'' 200. This marked the National's highest charting effort at the time (beating ''Boxer'', which debuted at number 68), until the release of '' Sleep Well Beast'' in 2017, which debuted at number two.
In May 2013, the band played ''High Violet'' track "Sorrow" 105 times in a row at an art installation in New York, in a performance lasting six hours. This durational performance was released as a special vinyl-only box set entitled ''A Lot of Sorrow'' by 4AD in June 2015.
In June 2020, the expanded edition of ''High Violet'' was released on vinyl for the first time as the ''10th Anniversary Expanded Edition.''
Critical reception
''High Violet'' was released to widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 85 out of 100 based on 36 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". BBC Music
BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke.
Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...
critic Mike Diver hailed the album as the National's "finest disc to date" and "a potential album of the year". Andrew Gaerig of ''Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
'' wrote that "when they aim for powerful or poetic, they get there" and described ''High Violet'' as "the sound of a band taking a mandate to be a meaningful rock band seriously." Steven Hyden of ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' called the album "carefully considered without being labored" and "richly detailed without being fussy". ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''s Dave Simpson wrote that ''High Violet'' "is beautifully subtle" and "grows in power with each listen", and ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''s Andy Gill called it "a masterclass in subtle emotional shading". Sputnikmusic writer Channing Freeman cited the album as the band's "third masterpiece in a row".
''High Violet'' appeared on several publications' year-end lists of the best albums of 2010. ''Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' named it the fourth best album of the year, and it also placed at number 15 on ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
''s list of the 30 best albums of 2010. ''Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
'' placed it at number 28 on their list of the 50 best albums of 2010. ''Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...
'' ranked ''High Violet'' at number 7 on their list of the Best Pop & Rock Albums of 2010, with critic Travis Persaud stating that it "continues the envious feat of releasing another album that's superior to its predecessor." The album placed at number eight on ''The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
''s year-end Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...
critics' poll. ''High Violet'' was awarded a '' Q'' Award for Best Album, an honor presented to the National by English musician Bernard Sumner. The album was also included in the 2011 edition of the book '' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''. In 2019, ''Pitchfork'' ranked the album at number 147 on their list of "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s".
Chart history
The album debuted at number three on the US ''Billboard'' and also debuted in Canada at number two, in Portugal at number three, and in Germany at number 10. ''High Violet'' was certified gold in Canada, Denmark, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. In 2011 it was awarded a diamond certification from the Independent Music Companies Association
The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), originally the Independent Music Publishers and Labels Association, is a non-profit trade association established in 2000 to help European independent record labels represent their agenda a ...
, which indicated sales of at least 200,000 copies throughout Europe. It has sold 326,846 copies in the U.S. as of September 2014.
In popular culture
A number of tracks from the album have featured variously throughout popular culture.
* The track "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks" featured at the climax of the second season of the SyFy series ''Warehouse 13
''Warehouse 13'' is an American science fiction television series that originally ran from July 7, 2009, to May 19, 2014, on the Syfy network, and was executively produced by Jack Kenny and David Simkins for Universal Cable Productions. Des ...
''.
* "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks" was also featured in the sixth episode of the fifth and final season of '' Money Heist''.
* The track "Runaway" was used in the 2013 film '' Warm Bodies''.
* The track "England" was used in 2018 by BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...
in a montage detailing England's penalty shootout victory over Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
in Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
.
** The track was also featured in the twelfth episode of the seventh season of the ABC series Grey's Anatomy
''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...
.
* The expanded edition track "You Were a Kindness" featured at the climax of the Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...
miniseries '' Defending Jacob''.
Track listing
Personnel
The National
* Matt Berninger – lead vocals
* Aaron Dessner – guitars, keyboard, bass
* Bryce Dessner – guitars
* Bryan Devendorf – drums, percussion
* Scott Devendorf – bass, guitar
Additional musicians
* Tim Albright – trombone
* Hideaki Aomori – clarinet, bass clarinet
* Michael Atkinson – French horn
* Thomas Bartlett – piano, keyboards
* Mads Christian Brauer – electronics and filtering
* CJ Camereri – trumpet, cornet
* Greg Chudzik – double bass
* Rachael Elliott – bassoon
* Alex Hamlin – baritone saxophone
* Marla Hansen – vocals
* Maria Jeffers – cello
* Bridget Kibbey – harp
* Thom Kozumplik – percussion
* Benjamin Lanz – trombone
* Rob Moose – violin
* Nico Muhly – celeste
* Dave Nelson – trombone
* Padma Newsome – violin, viola
* Richard Reed Parry – double bass, electric guitar, piano, vocals, backing vocal arrangements (on "Conversation 16")
* Kyle Resnick – trumpet
* Nadia Sirota – viola
* Alex Sopp – flute, bass flute
* Laurel Sprengelmeyer ( Little Scream) – vocals
* Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released ten solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomina ...
– harmonium, vocals, backing vocal arrangements (on "Afraid of Everyone")
* Jeremy Thal – French horn
* Justin Vernon
Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known as the primary songwriter and Lead vocalist, frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. He is also a member o ...
– vocals
* Produced by the National
* Additional production by Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, and Peter Katis
Peter Katis is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer, audio engineer, mixer, and musician.
Katis is best known for working with alternative and indie rock bands. He works primarily out of his own residential studio, Tarquin Studios, ...
* Recorded between March 2009 and January 2010 in Aaron's garage (Brooklyn, NY) by Peter Mavrogeorgis, Brandon Reid, Aaron Dessner, and Bryce Dessner
* Additional recording at Tarquin Studios (Bridgeport, CT) by Peter Katis, and at Kampo Studios (NYC) by Patrick Dillett
* Second engineer: Greg Georgio; assisted by Keith J Nelson
* Additional vocal recording by Christian Biegai (Berlin, Germany)
* Mixed by Peter Katis
* Additional mixing by Greg Georgio
* Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound (NYC)
* Orchestration by Bryce Dessner and Padma Newsome, except "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks" and "Lemonworld" by Nico Muhly
* Cover sculpture – ''The Binding Force'' by Mark Fox
* Photography by Keith Klenowski
* Design by Distant Station Ltd.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2010 albums
The National (band) albums
4AD albums
Albums produced by Aaron Dessner