Last month, I wrote a profile for Uproxx.com that detailed the making of The National’s latest album, Sleep Well Beast, which came out on Friday.

The band worked at guitarist Aaron Dessner’s studio in upstate New York. What else is there to say about yet another great National album? Plenty, in fact. I reached out to Jayson Greene, formerly of Pitchfork and Wondering Sound, to talk about how The National manages to evolve within the relatively narrow confines of a fixed identity. We both agree that Sleep Well Beast extends the band’s run of first-rate albums, but what exactly makes this record different from the others, while also reiterating the National’s established themes and sound?

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