The National

After years of floundering, the Brooklyn, N.Y., indie-rock quintet The National finally broke through in 2007 with their fourth record, Boxer, a bleary-eyed, lived-in album that became one of that year’s most acclaimed. Between singer Matt Berninger’s warm baritone and his melancholic yet disarming songwriting, the record remains like little else in indie-rock, a respite from the zany arrangements and experimental theatrics of more ostentatious buzz bands. The band hopes to release a follow-up in the next year, but in the meantime has remained in the spotlight, recording a new song called “So Far Around the Bend” for this year’s Dark Was the Night charity album, which the band’s guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner spearheaded.