On September 3, 2017, director Mike Mills emailed Matt Berninger, frontman of the National to introduce himself and in very short order, the most ambitious project of the National’s nearly 20-year career was born and plans for a hard- earned vacation died. The Los Angeles-based filmmaker was coming off his third feature, 20th Century Women, and was interested in working with the band on...something. A video maybe. Berninger, already a fan of Mills’ films, not only agreed to collaborate, he essentially handed over the keys to the band’s creative process. The result is I Am Easy to Find, a 24-minute film by Mills starring Alicia Vikander, and I Am Easy to Find, a 68-minute album by the National.

The movie was composed like a piece of music; the music was assembled like a film, by a film director. The frontman of the band and natural focal point was deliberately and dramatically side staged in favor of a variety of female voices, nearly all of whom have long been in the group’s orbit. It is unlike anything either artist has ever attempted and also totally in line with how they’ve created for much of their careers. The two projects are, as Mills calls them, “Playfully hostile siblings that love to steal from each other”—they share music and words and DNA and impulses and a vision about what it means to be human, but they don’t necessarily need one another.

With I Am Easy To Find it became apparent that this was to be a different way of writing an album. And with something this unique it deserved to fuel a cultural conversation around its inception and creation. We built a comprehensive plan to integrate a film and the National's album of the same name, into one symbiotic work. The result is I Am Easy to Find, a 24-minute film by Mills starring Alicia Vikander, and I Am Easy to Find, a 68-minute album by the National. The former is not the video for the latter; the latter is not the soundtrack to the former. The two projects are, as Mills calls them, “Playfully hostile siblings that love to steal from each other” Mills is not only credited as director and writer of the film, he is also credited as producer on the album, much of which was inspired by

Ahead of the film and album's physical and online release, The National and Mike Mills embarked on a worldwide screening tour that debuted the film and a live performance of the full album in five major cities: Paris, London, Toronto, New York and Los Angeles. Each event featured a Q&A with Mills, members of the band, and in Los Angeles, Alicia Vikander joined the Carrie Brownstein–hosted event. Upon the album’s release, the film was first projected at the United Artists Theatre in Los Angeles ahead of a limited Los Angeles theatrical run and would ultimately run in cinemas in over 10 countries internationally.

The project led to a top five album for The National in nine countries, including #2 in the UK and #5 in America. The overall film/album collaborative project garnered high praise from all the major press outlets around the world:

"Continuing to hone The National's tried-and-true ways into new modes of drama." – National Public Radio (American public radio).

"This isn’t a collection of alt-rock songs. This is high art." - Associated Press.

"To see a band pushing further, dramatically changing the formula this far into their career, is a beautiful thing.” - Evening Standard (a major UK newspaper).