The National tease new single ‘Weird Goodbyes’ featuring Bon Iver
The group have performed the song at some gigs on their current tour
By Tom Skinner
The National appear to be teasing a new single called ‘Weird Goodbyes’ featuring Bon Iver.
The band debuted the track at a show in Pamplona, Spain this May, though it appeared on the setlist that night as ‘Bathwater (Mount Auburn)’. At a later gig in Cooperstown, New York, the song was listed under the working title ‘Weird Goodbyes (Bathwater)’. It’s been performed on numerous other occasions on The National‘s current North American tour, per Far Out.
According to a post on Reddit, promotional posters have recently popped up in Brooklyn, New York to signal the imminent arrival of the new collaborative cut. The pink, white and black adverts, which list the single’s name as ‘Weird Goodbyes’, confirms that it’s a song by “The National feat. Bon Iver“.
The group are yet to reveal a release date for the team-up, at the time of writing. You can see a screenshot of the image beneath.
Bon Iver – aka Justin Vernon – appears alongside The National’s Aaron Dessner in the side-project group Big Red Machine, who released their second studio album, How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?, in August 2021.
Vernon also contributed vocals to Taylor Swift‘s 2020 songs ‘Exile’ and ‘Evermore’, both of which were produced by Aaron Dessner.
Meanwhile, The National have also debuted other new songs on tour lately, including ‘Grease in Your Hair’ and ‘Space Invaders’. The band’s most recent studio album, I Am Easy To Find, came out back in 2019.
The National are set to return to the UK next week for a trio of performances. They’ll play at All Points East in London next Friday (August 26) before heading up to Manchester to perform at the city’s Depot Mayfield venue on the Saturday (27).
An appearance at Connect Festival in Edinburgh is scheduled for the following day (28) – you can find the full live itinerary and ticket information here.
Earlier this year, The National’s Bryce Dessner told The Up and Coming that the band’s next full-length effort would see them revisit their “classic” sound, and said it would have a “lot of energy in it”. At the time, the musician said he “wasn’t sure when new music will come”, but assured fans that the group were “working on it”.