The National are back with a brand new single, the first since their 2013 album Trouble Will Find Me, and it’s a beauty – Sunshine on My Back. They've taken inspiration from Beyoncé, but thankfully only in the ‘surprise’ release format. Otherwise it’s a distinctive, melancholic number from The National, exactly what fans of the Cincinnati band want to hear.

The origin of the track is a little unclear at the moment, it’s been reported that it’s an unused track from the sessions of Trouble Will Find Me, but it sounds too good to be a leftover. So here’s hoping they’ll keep up their habit of an album every three years, and we can expect something new early 2016. You can download on iTunes, stream on Spotify, or if you purchase/rent the bands documentary Mistaken For Strangers it comes free too.

Or quite simply just listen to my show every day this week, it’s the Song of the Week. I love to listen to The National in complete peace, kick back, close my eyes and take in their finely tuned brilliance (I don’t listen in the car!).  In 2014 Matt Berninger said they’d start working on a new album late in the year, and that they need to change it up, they can’t make the same kind of album, the same kind of sound.

They haven’t in this track, it’s a stunning song, but typically dark and soulful, but that’s just the way we like them. They don’t need to change a thing.