Indie rock monoliths The National and Bon Iver have reunited for a new single called "Weird Goodbyes." Opening with a sputtering drum machine beat, the collaborative track offers a new sound for a group known for their moody, sprawling rock songs. "I was misusing drum machines, as usual, and stumbled onto this beat that got stuck in my head—it felt like something only [drummer Bryan Devendorf] could naturally play," Aaron Dessner explained in a press statement. "We built the song around the beat."
The opening verse recalls a bygone childhood, which could either be a period one is looking back on themselves or one they're witnessing fly by as a parent: "Memorize the bathwater, memorize the air / There'll come a time I'll wanna know I was here / Names on the doorframes, inches and ages / Handprints in concrete, at the softest stages." Matt Berninger's voice is weighted with reflection and is later accompanied by his pal Justin Vernon.
"Matt's melody and words felt so elegant and moving from the beginning," Dessner added. "Mourning a loss of innocence and motivation, holding onto memories and feelings that inevitably slip away and the grief we all suffer in weird goodbyes. I somehow could hear our friend Justin's voice and heart in this song from the beginning. We sent it to him and it moved him—he then sang with Matt so powerfully.”
Listen to "Weird Goodbyes" below.
