The National are releasing their new album First Two Pages of Frankenstein on April 28 via 4AD. Although they've shared a few singles—"Tropic Morning News," "New Order T-Shirt," and "Eucalyptus"—none of those featured the album's promised heavy-hitter collaborations with Taylor Swift, Sufjan Stevens, and Phoebe Bridgers. That changes today with the group sharing one of the two tracks that features the latter. The record's fourth and final single “Your Mind Is Not Your Friend” came during a period of writer's block Matt Berninger ultimately overcame with the help of Mary Shelley’s classic novel referenced in the album title.
“When I feel stuck, I’ll often grab a book off the shelf just to get some words in my head, and the first two pages of Frankenstein ended up triggering ‘Your Mind Is Not Your Friend,’” Berninger said. “The book starts off with the narrator on a voyage near the Arctic Circle, and that image of being adrift helped me to write about feeling disconnected and lost and lacking in purpose. Once I started confronting that strange, blurry panic of not having ideas, everything began to crack open a bit.”
Coinciding with the track's focus on mental health, The National announced a donation to Tiny Changes, the charity established in the memory of Frightened Rabbit lead singer Scott Hutchinson by his family. “Scott made tiny changes that had a big impact,” they wrote on the charity’s website. “His honesty and openness about his own mental health inspired people from all walks of life.”
Watch the playful video for "Your Mind Is Not Your Friend"—a family affair starring Matt’s brother Tom and directed by Phoebe's brother Jackson—below, and pre-order First Two Pages of Frankenstein here.
