The National - Fake Empire

The track opens with some feedback like drones which are soon hidden behind the driving piano track. The track is 3:25 in length, 4/4 and 102bpm. It's arrangement seems more linear than cyclic to me this may be once again due to it being the first track on the album. It begins from silence and grows to an intensity which is carried on with the loud drums of the second track.

Piano is primary element of the music in this track. The piano sound contains little of the hammer sound and contains mostly the resonance from the body. It provides the bass section to the music all the way up to 1:15 where the bass guitar enters and fills the gap in the lower frequencies. The rhythm of the piano is denoted by a lot of swung rhythms and a simple alternation between left-hand lows and right-hand highs. I'm wearing headphones for this but I believe there is some panning to help create the left/right perception from the pianists point of view.

There vocals have a reverb applied to them that extends the higher register sounds into the distance. This is of course most audible at the end of each line but it is quite useful in filling that space. These vocals occupy a strong center position in the mix

One aspect that I really enjoy with the drums o this recording is the 'cross-resonance' or 'bleeding resonance' creating a sizzle of snare being triggered by the kick drum. I think that this kind idiosyncratic element adds a  realistic and 'alive' character to the drums.