Before revealing their seventh studio album Sleep Well Beast next Friday, The National has shared one more track from the forthcoming album. The track titled “Day I Die” arrives with a creative new music video directed by Casey Reas who directed their previous track, “Carin at the Liquor Store“.

The video for the new single “Day I Die” showcases the emotional toil of performing as well as touring in a series of time lapse photos. The narrative is told through a day in the life of the National and consists of a total of 5,000 black and white time lapse photos which were taken by Graham MacIndoe. 

According to Reas, “Graham MacIndoe captured eighteen time-lapse photo series during rehearsals at Le Centquatre in June 2017 in Paris. Hours of rehearsal are compressed into a few minutes. Over five thousand of these photographs were brought together to create the final video.” He adds, “I wrote custom software to collage multiple photographs together and to compile them into videos. A flickering color layer abstracted from broadcast television signals augments the black and white footage. The images are played back at 12fps, near the threshold of the persistence of vision.”

The week leading up to the release of Sleep Well Beast, The National have a string of performances lined up for their fans. To celebrate the release of the album, the band will take over SiriusXMU on Monday, September 4th to play tracks off Sleep Well Beast. The following day, World Cafe and NPR Music will host First Live Listen in Philadelphia where The National will perform album to a sold out crowd. Fans can stream the show on NPR’s website. To show even more support, on the Thursday night’s episode the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the band will perform. Following the release on Friday, September 8th, the band will perform a special show at Bowery Ballroom exclusively for SiriusXM.

Sleep Well Beast Track list:
Nobody Else Will Be There
Day I Die
Walk It Back
The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness
Born to Beg
Turtleneck
Empire Line
I’ll Still Destroy You
Guilty Party
Carin at the Liquor Store
Dark Side of the Gym
Sleep Well Beast

Watch the music video for “Day I Die” below.

Starting in September, the band will take to the road to launch their nearly sold-out U.S tour. During their tour, the National will have stops in Forest Hills Stadium in New York, The Hollywood Bowl and the Greek Theater in Berkeley throughout October. For preparation of the tour, the National have done performances as a headlining slot on the main stage in Glastonbury, had two intimate performances in the round at Hudson’s Basilica and recently played at Haven Festival in Copenhagen.

To gather up more information as well as pre-sale registration for tickets, visit the National’s official website here.

The National World Tour:
# w/ Daughter
% w/ Local Natives
^ w/ This Is The Kit
* w/ Adia Victoria

9/05/17 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA (SOLD OUT)
9/16/17 – Cork Opera House / Sounds From a Safe Harbour – Cork, IRELAND (SOLD OUT)
9/17/17 – Vicar Street – Dublin, IRELAND (SOLD OUT)
9/18/17 – Vicar Street – Dublin, IRELAND (SOLD OUT)
9/20/17 – Usher Hall – Edinburgh, UK (SOLD OUT)
9/21/17 – Usher Hall – Edinburgh, UK (SOLD OUT)
9/22/17 – O2 Apollo – Manchester, UK (SOLD OUT)
9/23/17 – O2 Apollo – Manchester, UK (SOLD OUT)
9/25/17 – Eventim Hammersmith Apollo – London, UK ^ (SOLD OUT)
9/26/17 – Eventim Hammersmith Apollo – London, UK ^ (SOLD OUT)
9/27/17 – Eventim Hammersmith Apollo – London, UK ^ (SOLD OUT)
9/28/17 – Eventim Hammersmith Apollo – London, UK ^ (SOLD OUT)
10/05/17 – Wang Theatre – Boston, MA * (SOLD OUT)
10/06/17 – Forest Hills Stadium – New York, NY #
10/7/17 – Stage AE – Pittsburgh, PA #
10/8/17 – Masonic Hall – Detroit, MI #
10/11/17 – Hollywood Bowl – Los Angeles, CA % #
10/12/17 – CalCoast Credit Union Open Air Theatre – San Diego, CA #
10/14/17 – Greek Theatre – Berkeley, CA # (SOLD OUT)
10/15/17 – Greek Theatre – Berkeley, CA
10/21/17 – Elbphilharmonie – Hamburg, GERMANY (SOLD OUT)
10/23/17 – Tempodrom – Berlin, GERMANY (SOLD OUT)
10/24/17 – Tempodrom – Berlin, GERMANY (SOLD OUT)
10/25/17 – AFAS Live – Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS (SOLD OUT)
10/26/17 – AFAS Live – Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
10/28/17 – Coliseum – Lisbon, PORTUGAL (SOLD OUT)
10/30/17 – Bozar – Brussels, BELGIUM (SOLD OUT)
10/31/17 – Bozar – Brussels, BELGIUM (SOLD OUT)
11/02/17 – Pitchfork Paris, Paris FRANCE
11/04/17 – Annexet – Stockholm, SWEDEN (SOLD OUT)
11/05/17 – Annexet – Stockholm, SWEDEN
11/06/17 – Sentrum Scene – Oslo, NORWAY (SOLD OUT)
11/07/17 – Sentrum Scene – Oslo, NORWAY
11/27/17 – Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall – Portland, OR ^ (SOLD OUT)
11/28/17 – Paramount Theatre – Seattle, WA ^ (SOLD OUT)
11/29/17 – Paramount Theatre – Seattle, WA ^ (SOLD OUT)
12/01/17 – Queen Elizabeth Theatre – Vancouver BC, CANADA ^ (SOLD OUT)
12/02/17 – Queen Elizabeth Theatre – Vancouver BC, CANADA ^ (SOLD OUT)
12/04/17 – Verizon Hall – Philadelphia, PA ^ (SOLD OUT)
12/05/17 – The Anthem – Washington,DC ^ (SOLD OUT)
12/07/17 – Metropolis – Montreal QC, CANADA ^ (SOLD OUT)
12/08/17 – Metropolis – Montreal QC, CANADA ^ (SOLD OUT)
12/09/17 – Sony Centre – Toronto ON, CANADA ^ (SOLD OUT)
12/10/17 – Hamilton Place Theatre – Hamilton ON, CANADA ^ (SOLD OUT)
12/12/17 – Civic Opera House – Chicago, IL ^ (SOLD OUT)
12/13/17 – Civic Opera House – Chicago, IL ^ (SOLD OUT)
1/20/18 – Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – The Joint – Las Vegas, NV
1/23/18 – Pepsi Center WTC – Mexico City, MX
2/21/18 – Sydney Opera House Forecourt – Sydney, AUSTRALIA
2/25/18 – Villa Maria Winery – Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
2/27/18 – Riverstage – Brisbane, AUSTRALIA
3/1/18 – Sidney Myer Music Bowl – Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

Photo credit: Sharon Alagna