Music

Listen to two new National songs, "Rylan" and "I Need My Girl," plus watch them perform with Bon Iver

by Nicole Villeneuve

The National are wrapping up the last of their tour dates for the year, and on their stop in Toronto yesterday, they debuted two new songs on their live CBC Radio performance.

The National perform songs they’ve been including on this leg, “Rylan” and the very pretty “I Need My Girl” (the performance of which at Toronto’s AUX co-presented concert last night was accompanied by Owen Pallett), and in an interview the band says they’re reluctant to project a new album date. Chances are, these songs might not even make it.

There’s also a nice performance of the National’s “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” with vocals by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. The two were in town for shows a day apart, and both happened to be appearing live on CBC’s show Q. The band seems to like to improvise on this song; at the official show, Owen Pallett re-joined the band, as did openers Wye Oak, for a mostly acoustic crowd sing-along performance. Watch the Bon Iver version and listen to the two new songs below.

“Rylan”

“I Need My Girl”