If listening to past albums from the National conjure up the image of a swirling storm of emotional and introspective lyrics and layered orchestral arrangements, then the band’s sixth LP Trouble Will Find Me (May 21) could be considered a hurricane.

Still, not one that hits the listener upside the head.

No, Trouble Will Find Me is less bombastic than 2010’s High Violet, but it seems richer, deeper, a record that peels back layer after layer with each listen. It is fitting, considering the National has spent many years crafting their signature sound.

Since the Brooklyn-based band originally formed in 1999, the quintet has matured beyond their grad-school indie rock peers. No more does one have to squint when looking at a festival poster to see the National listed, largely in part to their ability to hone what has almost become a genre all to themselves.

Trouble Will Find Me really represents the next step in the National’s brooding brand of chamber rock with 13 tracks that deserve to be played in a big room, whether it’s to a large crowd or a single person looking out the window on a rainy afternoon. …

Read the full preview here > Album Pick of the Month: The National’s Trouble Will Find Me | Fender Picks (May 13, 2013 / Fender.com)