The National Wrote a Song about a “New Order T-Shirt” and Release an Actual New Order T-Shirt

I keep what I can of you
Split second glimpses and snapshots and sounds
You in my New Order T-shirt
Holding a cat and a glass of beer

Peter Saville’s legendary design for the Unknown Pleasures cover for Joy Division has had numerous parodies over the years, but thanks to NYC’s indie darlings The National, his minimalist cover for New Order’s Substance now has its day in the sun.

New Order T-Shirt is now available to the masses in both in song format and an actual garment; the former the lead single from The National’s ninth album, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, due out in late April via 4AD. The wistful, pensive track, with a lovely visualizer of black and white photos of the band on tour, is a simple reminiscence of New York memories of an era that has faded into memory. The lyrics namecheck a few stereotypical early 2000s hipster-era accoutrements, so their shirt is a cheeky nod to that dormant whimsy of the time. The sentiments behind the song itself, however, reveal a touching encomium to fleeting, fading youth.

“To me the line ‘I keep what I can of you’ means something about everyone I’ve ever known or loved,” Aaron Dessner said in a statement. “There’s a simplicity to ‘New Order T-Shirt’ that reminds me of our earlier records, but with the full maturity and experience we have now. It feels like a really important song for the future of our band.”

Listen below:

To promote the single, The National partnered with New Order for the limited-edition T-shirt, with a portion of the proceeds going to an as-yet-unannounced charity chosen by the bands.

The limited edition shirt can be pre-ordered in white or black here.

The National is set to go on a US tour starting in May with appearances from Soccer Mommy, Patti Smith, and her band, Bartees Strange and The Beths. They’ll kick off the tour in Chicago, working their way through DC, Boston, LA, Philly, Detroit, Denver, Madison, and more before wrapping up at Madison Square Garden in August. Their second leg commences in Europe in September, starting in Dublin, with stops in Leeds, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid, and more, and landing in Lisbon in October.

Full dates are below:

• 05-18 Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theatre *
• 05-19 Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theatre *
• 05-20 Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theatre *
• 05-21 Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theatre *
• 05-23 Washington, D.C. – The Anthem *
• 05-24 Washington, D.C. – The Anthem *
• 05-26 Boston, MA – Boston Calling Music Festival
• 05-28 Napa, CA – Bottlerock Festival
• 05-30 Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre *
• 06-02 Troutdale, OR – McMenamins Edgefield *
• 06-03 Troutdale, OR – McMenamins Edgefield *
• 06-04 Redmond, WA – Marymoor Park *
• 06-05 Burnaby, British Columbia – Festival Lawn at Deer Lake Park *
• 08-01 Philadelphia, PA – The Met Philadelphia ~
• 08-02 Philadelphia, PA – The Met Philadelphia ~
• 08-03 New Haven, CT – Westville Music Bowl ~
• 08-07 Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit ~
• 08-08 Madison, WI – The Sylvee ~
• 08-09 Minneapolis, MN – The Armory ~
• 08-11 Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom ~
• 08-12 Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom ~
• 08-15 Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater ~
• 08-16 Atlanta, GA – Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park ~
• 08-18 New York, NY – Madison Square Garden &
• 09-21 Dublin, Ireland – 3 Arena *
• 09-23 Leeds, England – First Direct Arena *
• 09-24 Glasgow, Scotland – OVO Hydro Arena *
• 09-26 London, England – Alexandra Palace *
• 09-27 London, England – Alexandra Palace *
• 09-29 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome ^
• 09-30 Berlin, Germany – Max-Schmeling-Halle ^
• 10-01 Munich, Germany – Zenith ^
• 10-04 Madrid, Spain – WiZink Center ^
• 10-05 Porto, Portugal – Super Bock Arena ^
• 10-06 Lisbon, Portugal – Campo Pequeno ^

* with Soccer Mommy
~ with The Beths
& with Patti Smith and Her Band
^ with Bartees Strange