For The National’s fifth studio album, High Violet, 4AD have stepped up the quality quite significantly from the packaging of their previous album Boxer, seemingly wanting to reward all the vinyl-buying fans out there.
The gatefold sleeve is finely produced in vibrant colour on the cover and reverse. The title text is exquisitely embossed into the packaging. Upon opening the gatefold you discover a nicely printed grayscale photo of the Dessner twins covering the entire inside. The rest of the band are found pictured on the covers of the vinyl, also in grayscale, with either word of the album’s title on the reverse of each cover.
The album is split over two 180g violet records, which are high quality. The violet colour is delightful and brings a nice uniformity to the package as a whole.
The only omission from the set – and it may be a glaring one for some collectors – is some sort of booklet or insert featuring lyrics. It’s a shame that with all the effort that has gone into the rest of the packaging that this was overlooked; a simple sheet would have sufficed.
Nonetheless this is still one of the most excellently manufactured packages we are likely to see this year and is a must-buy for any record-collecting fans of The National. The violet vinyl is only being released in limited quantity so make sure you grab it while it’s fresh.
Package supplied courtesy of Chris Ambrose
