Taylor Swift features on The National single 'The Alcott'

US indie rockers the National have released Taylor Swift collaboration 'The Alcott,' the seventh track on their newest record, First Two Pages of Frankenstein. 

The soft spoken and heartbreaking song began with The National co-founder Aaron Dessner, who then gave it to frontman Matt Berninger and Taylor Swift, who co-wrote the lyrics.

"We hadn’t even talked about inviting her to be on the record," Dessner told Vulture, ahead of the record's release.

"I never want to put pressure on anybody unless it really makes sense. But there was something about that song I thought she’d really respond to," he added. "She quickly rewrote it as this conversation or dialogue between two lovers. That helped shape where we went with the production of it. We added a lot of the other elements — the orchestration and the drums."

The Alcott (feat. @taylorswift13) is out now. Listen and watch the official lyric video:https://t.co/WWDBGCjcTy 📔👨‍👦

Directed and edited by @_brown_town_
Filmed by @ChrisSgroi , @TomBerninger and @aaron_dessner
Photography by Shaun Gibson pic.twitter.com/B5wsJd54rR

— The National (@TheNational) April 28, 2023

The National and Taylor Swift have collaborated a number of times in recent years, starting with Dessner's production assistance of Swift's 2020 record, Folklore, which also featured contributions from the National’s Bryce Dessner and Bryan Devendorf.

Swift’s next release, Evermore, also featured the Dessners, Devendorf and his brother Scott, and Matt Berninger, who notably shared vocals on the ninth track, 'Coney Island.'

Aaron Dessner has also worked with Swift on 2022's 'Carolina,' Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Red (Taylor’s Version), Midnights (3am Edition), and the Big Red Machine songs 'Birch' and 'Renegade.'

"Her work with Aaron was so brilliant, and I know that she was really, you know, interested in the writing process," Berninger told Hanuman Welch on Apple Music 1, adding:

"['The Alcott'] very much is a perspective of one person coming to try to reconnect with another person in a space, in a room, like, in a hotel bar... I had written all that side of it, and Aaron sent it to Taylor right away.

"And I think she jumped right into the role of the other voice, the other perspective. And I was writing about my wife, but, you know, it sets a scene of a person with a notebook writing in a bar basically. And she knew exactly, you know, she fit right into that spot.

"So when it came back and all of a sudden this song I’d written suddenly has the other viewpoint, or the other perspective added to it by one of the greatest songwriters of all time. My wife was blown away. It was great. It was such a fun, exciting thing, and it just made that song so much more beautiful and so much more dimensional."

First Two Pages of Frankenstein is out now, and features additional collaborations with Sufjan Stevens and Pheobe Bridgers.

Watch the video below.