The surprise companion to the National's April release, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, is the band's most freewheeling, all-hands-on-deck album in years. If Frankenstein represented a rebuilding of trust between group members after 20-plus years together, the vibrant, exploratory album is both the product of that faith and a new statement of intent. Reveling in the license to radically upend its creative process, the National honed most of this...

An eclectic album, produced by Merchant, it features two duets sung with vocalist Abena Koomson-Davis. There are lush orchestrations throughout by seven composers.