The National has surprisingly released a second album called "Laugh Track". The 12-song album "Laugh Track" is an addition to "First Two Pages of Frankenstein".

The National have also confirmed more tour dates for this fall and next spring through summer. On 25th June 2024, The National will stop at the Wiener Stadthalle!

"Laugh Track" is the freest album in years. While "Frankenstein" rebuilt trust between the band members after over 20 years, the vibrant, experimental "Laugh Track" is both the product of that trust and a new statement of intent. Enjoying the freedom to radically alter their creative process, The National honed most of the tracks during live performances on their tour this year. These invigorated versions were recorded in impromptu sessions in producer Tucker Martine's studio.

The almost eight-minute closing track "Smoke Detector" was recorded in June during a sound check in Vancouver and completes a work that is bursting with spontaneity and vintage rock energy and is a perfect complement to the songs of its more introspective predecessor.

"Laugh Track" features guest appearances from Phoebe Bridgers and Rosanne Cash as well as the Bon Iver collaboration "Weird Goodbyes", which was released as a standalone track in August 2022.

"It felt like the story had already been told. It was its own thing," says group member Aaron Dessner about the latter track. "But it also felt like it related to what we were doing. That was part of the logic for another record - we wanted to give 'Weird Goodbyes' its own home."

Support (subject to change!):

• Bess Atwell