“We’re in a different kind of thing now,” Matt Berninger notes in the chorus of the National’s new song, “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness.” It could be his way of addressing the dark turn things have taken in the four years since the band’s last album, Trouble Will Find Me. But “The System” is also a different kind of thing for the National. While many of their songs, records, and even the trajectory of their nearly 20-year career could be described as a slow build, now they’re not wasting any time. “The System” sounds heavy and urgent and surprisingly aggressive—and not just because of Aaron Dessner’s gnarly guitar solo in the middle.

There’s a bit of Spoon in the song’s disjointed swagger, but the National retain the elegance that’s been their calling card since the Alligator days. Drummer Bryan Devendorf still finds unexpected patterns to propel Berninger’s understated melodies: the sneakers-in-a-dryer wallop of 1980s Grateful Dead might be the only thing the band’s retained from their recent Day of the Dead sessions. Here, they all sound more energized, jutting forward with a slick confidence. “I can’t explain it any other way,” Berninger repeats desperately in his highest register as the band hits the song’s emotional peak. Together, they sound wide awake and ready to fight away the darkness.