It’s now been over three years since the National released Trouble Will Find Me. When we checked in with the band last fall, they were just getting started on the follow-up. But they’ve debuted a few new songs recently at the Welcome To Hamilton Benefit and the Greek Theatre in LA, and those songs haven’t been particularly similar to the brooding sounds we’ve become accustomed to from this crew.

Frontman Matt Berninger, has finally given us some insight as to why that is. Berninger told NME that the band members have grown tired of their sound and are looking to do some exploring:

We’re playing together in a room, which means we’re jamming more. But it’s not a jam record at all — the songs are much more like weird, math-y, electronic-y stuff. A lot of songs are going in completely different directions. But that’s a really fun place to be. We’re in the middle of the wilderness, in a rainforest full of really fun noises.

We could probably crank out a great National record in a weekend, but none of us are interested in following up with another record that sounds like Trouble Will Find Me. That record was a great accomplishment and I’m so proud of it. But even if we could make a record that good and put it out tomorrow, we wouldn’t, because we’ve already made that. We’d rather make a terrible record that opens up new possibilities. It’s going to be great!

I have no clue what electronic-y and math-y will sound like coming from the National, but they certainly have the chops to pull off something great. Here’s hoping.