# I Am Easy to Find (album)

I Am Easy to Find is the eighth studio album by American indie rock band The National, released on May 17, 2019, via 4AD. The follow-up to the band's 2017 album, Sleep Well Beast, it was supported by the lead single, "You Had Your Soul with You", and accompanied by a short film of the same name, directed by Mike Mills and starring Alicia Vikander. Vikander is also featured on the album cover. A trailer was released for the companion film along with the announcement of the album. A tour promoting the album began in June 2019.

## Background

The bulk of the album was recorded at Long Pond studio in Hudson Valley, New York. Parts were recorded in other cities, including Paris, Berlin, Dublin, Cincinnati, Austin, and Brooklyn. The album and film, while having influenced each other, were essentially made separately. A press release stated that the album "is not the soundtrack" for the film; the idea for the album itself came after the film was shot.
The album features female vocalists including Lisa Hannigan, Sharon Van Etten, Mina Tindle, Gail Ann Dorsey, Kate Stables, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.

## Critical reception

Professional ratings :
| Aggregate scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.7/10 |
| Metacritic | 81/100 |
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| And It Don't Stop | A− |
| The Guardian | |
| The Independent | |
| Mojo | |
| NME | |
| Pitchfork | 7.6/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| The Times | |
I Am Easy to Find was met with universal acclaim, receiving a score of 81 on Metacritic, the review aggregating site. Reviewing in his "Consumer Guide" column, Robert Christgau said that "almost every track is open to substantive female input on a musical whole that feels consistently interactive and empathetic and also not so glum—even when you can’t pin down exact meanings, it makes love sound possible." More negative critics, such as The Observer's Phil Mongredien, complained about the album's flatness and inaccessibility.

### Year-end rankings

Year-end rankings for I Am Easy to Find :
| Publication | Accolade | Rank |
| The A.V. Club | Top 20 Albums of 2019 | 20 |
| Gothamist | Best Album of 2019 | 7 |
| Louder Than War | Top 50 Albums of 2019 | 11 |
| Magnet Magazine | Top 25 Albums of 2019 | 9 |
| MusicOMH | Top 50 Albums of 2019 | 14 |
| The Skinny | Top Ten Albums of 2019 | 6 |

## Track listing

All tracks are written by Matt Berninger and produced by Aaron Dessner, unless noted otherwise.
Notes
* The album's liner notes credit all lyrics as written by Berninger, Besser and Mills; and all music as composed by A. Dessner and B. Dessner. Track-by-track credits are adapted from Tidal.
* "Not in Kansas" contains an interpolation of "Noble Experiment", originally performed by Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 on the album Strangers from the Universe, written by Mark Davies, Anne Eickelberg, Brian Hageman, Jay Paget and Hugh Swarts.

## Short film

Director Mike Mills developed a short film based on early clips of the songs featured on the album. As the two projects developed concurrently, the final songs used in each differ from one another.
Mills chose the title for both the short film and the album from a lyric in the song of the same name. The song was originally titled "Washington" before Mills insisted on altering it.

### Cast

* Alicia Vikander
* Kate Adams as Young mother
* Riley Shanahan as Young father