President Obama Books the National for an Opening Act

The members of the National have spent 2012 busying themselves with a number of eclectic projects, including a free show with the Grateful Dead, recording a song for the 'Game of Thrones' soundtrack, and composing music for a children's app. Now they're adding one more to the list: opening for a speech on President Obama's re-election campaign.

Pitchfork reports that the band will play before his Sept. 1 stop in Des Moines, Iowa, extending a list of supportive acts that already included allowing Obama to use their music for a commercial (and rolling out a custom-designed T-shirt) in 2008, and opening for him at an event in 2010.

The National broke the news via thier Twitter account, writing, "Proud to support @BarackObama again in 2012. We'll be opening for him in Des Moines on Sept 1. Follow @OFA_IA for details. #fourmoreyears"

On the musical front, fans continue to wait for the band's follow-up to its most recent album, 2010's Top 5 Billboard hit 'High Violet.' While they started debuting new material at shows in 2011, there's no word on when we can expect to hear a new LP. In the meantime, you can tide yourself over by listening to our list of the 10 best National songs.