The charisma and centrality of the figure of Matt Berninger within the artistic project The National are reaffirmed on the 2023 album "First Two Pages Of Frankenstein" by the Brooklyn-based U.S. band. Berninger's name, in fact, is found (albeit paired with other signatures) throughout the album's eleven compositions.
Sumptuous ballads, sinewy pacing tracks, folk dispensed by the handful and lavish guests (Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, Sufjan Stevens) are wisely distributed throughout the forty-seven minute total length of one of The National's most engaging works.