High Violet, the new album released by Cincinnati-by-way-of-Brooklyn band The National may not be the most uplifting record of 2010, but it is one of the most beautiful. It's the band's fifth studio release and it continues in the stunning tradition of Alligator and Boxer before it. That said, High Violet isn't as instantly exciting as Alligator or immediately compelling as Boxer. It's at once less urgent and considerably more fussed-over. Guitars don't feature very heavily on the album and there aren't any real rock songs to be found on the short but intense track list. Instead, much of the album consists of songs that clearly began as Matt Beringer sitting alone at his piano and spent 18 months blossoming into 11 miniature symphonies.

The expansive sound on High Violet doesn't really take away from its strong sense of emotional intimacy. Beringer's lyrics, which have always been some of the best in modern pop music, are especially poetic this time around. They hem close to the recurring themes of loneliness, chemical dependence and the literal and metaphorical distance of being on the other side of an ocean from something you love. The opening track "Terrible Love" sets the tone for the rest of the album even though it sounds like an all-out closing song for a more energetic record. It begins, as most of the tracks on High Violet do, with a quiet, isolated sound that gradually builds into something huge.

It often seems that Matt Beringer's vocals are barely escaping the smothering layers of sound at the end High Violet's most intense tracks. "Afraid of Everyone" is a particularly stirring song, a slice of building tension coming from a man who is faced with raising a family in a world that is full of panic, quickly discovering that he is still ill-equipped for the responsibility.

The greatest moment on High Violet comes just before the end in the penultimate track, "England". While the entire album certainly sounds like songs being played from a boat in the middle of the ocean, "England" is the one that seems like a genuine plea for dry land. The suffocating density of the rest of the record gives way to a clean, crisp sound, all so it can explode at the end with the beautiful couplet "Frail little hearts, stay the night with the sinners/ Frail little hearts, 'cuz they're desperate to entertain" sung like some drunken, late-night anthem.

High Violet doesn't have any real singles on it and while it has particularly memorable segments I've found that it holds up better as one cohesive piece. On this album The National have found such an artistic sweet spot that they stay there for 48 straight minutes. If we're to take Alligator, Boxer and High Violet as a triptych, the latter is a fitting finale. It will definitely go down as one of the best albums of 2010.