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In , The National’s sixth album in a dozen years, they have finely tuned their laid-back, indie-rock sound and Matt Berninger’s trademark baritone vocals. The sound might be similar, but the message has a transparency and takes on a more personal narrative.

Engaging issues of spirituality, faith, and doubt throughout the album, the climax of the album is “Graceless.” Berninger sings, “God loves everybody, don’t remind me/I took the medicine when I went missing/Just let me hear your voice, just let me listen/Graceless/I figured out how to be faithless/But it will be a shame to waste this/You can't imagine how I hate this/Graceless.”

The album avoids the abstraction of faith and meaning in the universe, instead getting at the human experience of struggle, pain, and joy.

While most albums are known for a few singles, each track on this one works together toward the whole. This is quite simply their masterpiece. Be forewarned that one song includes offensive language. (4AD Records)