High Violet is the fifth studio album by The National, which was released on May 10, 2010, in Europe and on May 11, 2010, in North America via 4AD.

[2] The sculpture on the album cover was created by artist Mark Fox, and is called The Binding Force.

[4][5] The reissue includes the standard 11-track album along with a new bonus disc, featuring the unreleased tracks "You Were a Kindness" and "Wake Up Your Saints" as well as alternate versions, B-sides, and live recordings.

On March 10, 2010, they performed opening track "Terrible Love" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, two months before the album's release.

[11] In May 2013, the band played High Violet track "Sorrow" 105 times in a row at an art installation in New York, in a performance lasting six hours.

[12] This durational performance was released as a special vinyl-only box set entitled A Lot of Sorrow by 4AD in June 2015.

[10][37][38] High Violet was certified gold in Canada, Denmark, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.

In 2011 it was awarded a diamond certification from the Independent Music Companies Association,[39] which indicated sales of at least 200,000 copies throughout Europe.