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Aug 22, 2022 By Joey Arnone Photography by Josh Goleman

The National have shared a new single, “Weird Goodbyes,” a collaboration with Bon Iver (the project led by Justin Vernon). The single features strings by the London Contemporary Orchestra as orchestrated by The National’s Bryce Dessner, and is out now via 4AD. Listen below.

In a press release, The National lead singer Matt Berninger elaborates on the new single: “It’s about letting go of the past and moving on, then later being overwhelmed by second thoughts.”

The band’s Aaron Dessner adds: “‘Weird Goodbyes’ was one of the first new songs we made. I was misusing drum machines, as usual, and stumbled onto this beat that got stuck in my head—it felt like something only Bryan could naturally play. We built the song around the beat. Matt’s melody and words felt so elegant and moving from the beginning—mourning a loss of innocence and motivation, holding onto memories and feelings that inevitably slip away and the grief we all suffer in weird goodbyes.”

Dessner also explains how the Bon Iver collaboration came to fruition: “I somehow could hear our friend Justin’s voice and heart in this song from the beginning. We sent it to him and it moved him—he then sang with Matt so powerfully.”

The National’s latest album, I Am Easy to Find, came out in 2019 via 4AD.

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