The National - ‘Boxer’ + Viognier
Ingredients: 1 bottle Viognier (white wine)
Mixing Instructions: It’s wine, just pour it and enjoy
Notes: One might raise a brow at pairing an album entitled, Boxer with a floral white wine, but the sparring taking place over the course of The National’s fourth studio album is less about the TKO variety than it is the inner struggles and malaise of thirty-something white-collar America. Matt Beringer’s baritone voice works both musically and metaphorically, it’s melancholy timbre reflecting the very real anxiety that comes along with waking up to find the idealism of your twenties dried up with anyone’s guess as to what will replace it. While all of this may sound rather depressing, The National proves with this album that facing the awkward and even ugly moments of life is the stuff of real depth and character…and the tinder from which a beautiful album can arise.