The group will warm up for those dates with three shows in Europe – May 22 at Astoria in London, May 23 at La Maroquinerie in Paris and May 25 at Magnet in Berlin.

The North American leg gets rolling in a big way with four shows at New York’s Bowery Ballroom May 28 – 31 and will make stops at a variety of clubs and theatres around the country including the Opera House in Toronto, The Earl in Atlanta and the 20th Century Theatre in Cincinnati and Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco, before finishing up June 30 at Neumo’s in Seattle.

The National got startedin 1999 when five friends from Cincinnati – singer Matt Berninger and two pairs of brothers – Aaron and Bryce Dessner, and Bryan and Scott Devendorf – moved to New York and decided to form a band.

The band’s first two albums were released independently on Brassland Records, a label started by the Dessners, and the band was signed to Beggars Banquet in 2005.

Boxer, the group’s fourth album, is scheduled to drop May 22, just before the start of the tour.