's eighth record came from prosaic beginnings. Director -- not to be confused with the bassist from , as he so often is -- invited to collaborate, a notion that quickly spawned two projects: a short film from and a new album from , both entitled . is credited as a co-producer on the album, a bit of a stretch considering how he is by no means a musician, but his contributions did indeed help the album take shape. Beginning with a clutch of outtakes from , and formed these scraps into the elusive, shape-shifting . Lasting a lengthy 64 minutes, paints intimacy on an epic scale: everything sounds hushed, as private as a secret, yet there's a sweep to the execution. Considering this grand scale along with the album's origins and ' presence, it's tempting to call cinematic, yet that suggests a possible narrative cohesion to its 16 songs when the National aren't interested in a story, they're concerned with impressions. The songs of are contained units where each line fits together tightly, an aesthetic that ties together the album without quite lending the album a theme; if this music is cinematic, it's the equivalent of an evening's worth of tasteful experimental films. What distinguishes the album is 's openness toward collaboration, a notion that is not limited to . Highlighted by -- a veteran of 's band -- invite a number of female vocalists to sing on the album, lending a welcome sense of openness. Where can often seem hermetically sealed -- such insularity is a key to their appeal -- has loose ends and picturesque detours in addition to a revolving cast of characters and a suggestion of mess that give the album an appealingly unkempt sense of humanity. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine