Sleep Well Beast

Sleep Well Beast is the seventh studio album by the American indie rock band The National, released on September 8, 2017, by 4AD.^[2] The album won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2018.

Sleep Well Beast
Studio album by The National
Released	September 8, 2017
Studio	Long Pond (Hudson Valley) Saint Germain (Paris)[a] Illegoland (Los Angeles)[b] Future Past (Hudson, New York)[c] Funkhaus (Berlin)[c] Michelberger Hotel (Berlin)[c]
Genre	Indie rock[1] art rock
Length	57:32
Label	4AD
Producer	Aaron Dessner Bryce Dessner[d] Matt Berninger[e] Peter Katis[f]
The National chronology
Trouble Will Find Me (2013) Sleep Well Beast (2017) I Am Easy to Find (2019)
Singles from Sleep Well Beast
"The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness" Released: May 11, 2017 "Guilty Party" Released: June 28, 2017 "Carin at the Liquor Store" Released: August 8, 2017 "Day I Die" Released: August 29, 2017 "I'll Still Destroy You" Released: October 23, 2017

Promotion

On May 9, and May 10, 2017, the National's Twitter page tweeted out two short audio teasers, one from the title track and the other from the lead single, "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness".

Singles

The first single from the album, "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness", was released on May 11, 2017, alongside the album's announcement.^[3] The second single, "Guilty Party", was released on June 28, 2017.^[4] A third single, "Carin at the Liquor Store", was released on August 8, 2017, followed by the fourth, "Day I Die". on August 29. The fifth single, "I'll Still Destroy You", was released on October 23, 2017.

Packaging and marketing

The artwork for Sleep Well Beast consists of a black and white photograph, shot by Graham MacIndoe, of the side of a barn in Hudson Valley, New York dating back to the 18th century, bought by the guitarist Aaron Dessner and rebuilt as the album's recording studio. MacIndoe also took numerous photographs of the band during recording sessions for the album inserts.^[5][6] Andrea Trabucco-Campos and Elaynna Blaser-Gould, with partner Luke Hayman, of the British design firm Pentagram, were the art directors for the album's packaging.^[7]

Unusually, Pentagram also created the branding and identity for Sleep Well Beast and the band, including a corporate standards manual. Additionally, they created the marketing campaign to highlight and play on the album's themes of politics, society and propaganda as "a bit of a joke". The album and branding use the Grotesque-based font Maison with a predominantly blue and white-based color palette.^[6] From the cover, the barn was condensed into a pentagon used as the branding's logo, subdivided into two squares and triangles implemented within the design and branding, even in the artwork itself, as an allusion to corporate branding.^[8]

The marketing campaign was executed in several ways. The band's label, 4AD, partnered with the design company Diabolical to create a mural for the album in Shoreditch, London, containing a lyric from "Day I Die".^[9] Four music videos – "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness", "Guilty Party", "Carin at the Liquor Store" and "Day I Die" – were directed by Casey Reas prior to the album's release, included in video billboard advertisements released in Times Square, London and Copenhagen. Band merchandise included the branding for the album, specifically the pentagon logo.^[8][10]

Elyanna Blaser-Gould, Luke Hayman and Andrew Trabucco-Campos were nominated for Best Recording Package at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.^[11][12]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.2/10[13]
Metacritic	85/100[14]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[15]
The A.V. Club	A[16]
The Guardian	[17]
The Independent	[18]
Mojo	[19]
NME	[20]
Pitchfork	8.0/10[21]
Q	[22]
Rolling Stone	[23]
Vice (Expert Witness)	A−[24]

Sleep Well Beast received widespread acclaim from music critics. On Metacritic, which assigns an average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream music critics, the album received an average score of 85 based on 35 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".^[14]

In The Observer, Kitty Empire described Sleep Well Beast as an exponent of "the tension created by the hyper-musical brother duos, pacing the cage of what 'rock band' means with increased vigour. It often adds up to a subtle, grown-up take that still leaves space for drama."^[25]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
NME	NME's Albums of the Year 2017	13	[26]
RIOT Mag	RIOT's Albums of the Year 2017	3	[27]
Rough Trade	Albums of the Year	14	[28]
Stereogum	50 Best Albums of 2017	32	[29]
Vinyl Me, Please	The 30 Best Albums of 2017	10	[30]
Sputnikmusic	Top 50 Albums of 2017	1	[31]
Grammy Awards	Winner: Best Alternative Music Album Nominated: Best Recording Package	—	[12]
Diffuser.fm	Top 25 Albums of 2017	2	[32]
Yahoo!	Top 10 Albums of 2017	2	[33]
The Sunday Times	100 Best Albums of 2017	5	[34]
Under the Radar	Top 100 Albums of 2017	7	[35]
Uncut	75 Best Albums of 2017	7	[36]
Newsweek	Best Albums of 2017	9	[37]
Q	50 Best Albums of 2017	10	[38]
Rolling Stone	50 Best Albums of 2017	11	[39]
Mojo	Top 50 Albums of 2017	12	[40]
Uproxx	50 Best Albums of 2017	13	[41]
USA Today	10 Favorite Albums of 2017	—	[42]
American Songwriter	Top 25 Albums of 2017	6	[43]

Track listing

All lyrics and melodies written by Matt Berninger and Carin Besser; all music composed by Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner; except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Nobody Else Will Be There"	4:39
2.	"Day I Die" (composed by The National)	4:31
3.	"Walk It Back" (includes an excerpt from the article "Faith, Certainty and the Presidency of George W. Bush" by Ron Suskind, first published in The New York Times)	5:59
4.	"The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness"	3:56
5.	"Born to Beg"	4:22
6.	"Turtleneck"	3:00
7.	"Empire Line"	5:23
8.	"I'll Still Destroy You"	5:15
9.	"Guilty Party"	5:38
10.	"Carin at the Liquor Store"	3:33
11.	"Dark Side of the Gym"	4:50
12.	"Sleep Well Beast"	6:31
Total length:		57:32

Personnel

The National Matt Berninger Aaron Dessner Bryce Dessner Bryan Devendorf Scott Devendorf Benjamin Lanz – touring musician Kyle Resnick – touring musician Music The National – arrangement, performance Aaron Dessner – drum programming Bryce Dessner – drum programming Bryan Devendorf – drum programming Maaike van der Linde – additional orchestration (track 12) Additional musicians Benjamin Lanz – trombone, synth Kyle Resnick – trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals Lisa Hannigan – vocals Arone Dyer – vocals Justin Vernon – synths, vocals Andi Toma – keyboards, audio processing Jan St. Werner – keyboards, audio processing Maaike van der Linde – bass flute, flute Romain Bly – horn Thomas Bartlett – keyboards Jason Treuting – drums, percussion Eric Cha-Beach – drums, percussion Nick Lloyd – organ Ryan Olson – audio processing Erwan Castex – keyboards, electronic percussion Alexander Ridha – electronic percussion David Chalmin – drum processing James McAlister – drum programming Josh Kaufman – guitar Katia Labèque – piano Walter Martin – Vox Continental Organ

Paris orchestral sessions ensemble Charlotte Juillard – violin Domitille Gilon – violin Nikolai Spassov – violin Marc Desjardins – violin Ariadna Teyssier – violin Leslie Boulin Raulet – violin Matthias Piccin – violin Pauline Hauswirth – violin Emilie Duch-Sauzeau – violin Sarah Chenaf – viola Marine Gandon – viola Benachir Boukhatem – viola Juliette Salmona – cello Barbara Le Liepvre – cello Ella Jarrige – cello Thomas Garoche – basses Grégoire Dubruel – basses Louise Lapierre – bassoon Emma Landarrabilco – flute Bastien Nouri – oboe Renaud Guy–Rousseau – clarinet Cédric Bonnet – horn Production Aaron Dessner – production; additional recording Bryce Dessner – orchestration, co-production (all tracks) Matt Berninger – co-production (tracks 4, 6, 9) Peter Katis – additional production (tracks 2, 4); mixing Jonathan Low – recording, additional mixing David Chalman – recording (Paris orchestral sessions) Sean O'Brien – recording (Los Angeles vocal sessions) Jan St. Werner – additional recording Andi Toma – additional recording Greg Calbi – mastering Steve Fallone – co-mastering Artwork Graham MacIndoe – album photography Luke Hayman – design Andrea Trabucco-Campos – design Elaynna Blaser-Gould – design

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2017) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[44] 2 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[45] 5 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[46] 2 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[47] 8 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[48] 1 Croatian Albums (HDU)[49] 1 Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[50] 20 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[51] 2 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[52] 3 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[53] 3 French Albums (SNEP)[54] 11 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[55] 4 Irish Albums (IRMA)[56] 1 Italian Albums (FIMI)[57] 13 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[58] 2 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[59] 8 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[60] 11 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[61] 1 Scottish Albums (OCC)[62] 1 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[63] 8 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[64] 2 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[65] 4 UK Albums (OCC)[66] 1 US Billboard 200[67] 2 US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[68] 1 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[69] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2017) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[70] 32 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[71] 173 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[72] 52 Chart (2018) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[73] 101

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[74]	Silver	60,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Notes

1. Orchestral session
2. Vocal sessions
3. Additional sessions
4. Orchestration and co-production on all tracks
5. Co-production on tracks 4, 6, 9
6. Additional production on tracks 2, 4