Royal Green - Royal Green (2020) Hi-Res

ROYAL GREEN, the debut album from Bryan Devendorf (The National, LNZNDRF) with sound designer Nate Martinez.
After the relatively quick one-two of Sleep Well Beast and I Am Easy To Find, it seemed as if the National had closed a specific chapter of their career. So now, as they did between Trouble Will Find Me and Sleep Well Beast, it appears they’re taking some time for their own projects. Aaron Dessner continues to produce and write with other artists, including Taylor Swift. Matt Berninger has his debut solo album, Serpentine Prison, slated for this fall. And now drummer Bryan Devendorf has also gotten in on the solo debut game.

Today, out of nowhere, Devendorf has surprise released an album called Royal Green. He co-produced it in Brooklyn with Nate Martinez, and bandmates/collaborators Aaron Dessner and Josh Kaufman both appear. It’s a blearier, more casual sound than the intricacies you’d associate with the National. Devendorf instead leans into a hazy, homemade aesthetic, something a bit more lo-fi and that allows for all kinds of weird noises and ideas to simmer around each other.

Half of the album’s originals, and half of it is made up of some notable covers. Devendorf takes on the Bob Dylan/George Harrison track “If Not For You,” the Beatles’ “Baby You’re A Rich Man,” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.” He also offers up his own interpretation of “Halo Chagrin,” a lost National song that’s never been properly released. You can check out the entirety of Royal Green below.