Matt Berninger (The National) Announces Sophomore Solo Album ‘Get Sunk’

Matt Berninger, the frontman and lyricist for The National, will unveil his second solo album, Get Sunk, on May 30th through Book/Concord Records.

Berninger worked on the project with GRAMMY Award-winning producer and engineer Sean O’Brien, who also co-wrote many of the songs. With its rich sonic landscape and poignant lyrics, Get Sunk is a testament to Berninger’s artistry and his ability to capture the complexities of the human experience. Its sonic world blossomed with the help of numerous musicians and friends, including Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), Julia Laws (Ronboy), Kyle Resnick (The National, Beirut), Garret Lang, Sterling Laws, Booker T. Jones, Harrison Whitford, Mike Brewer, and The Walkmen’s Walter Martin and Paul Maroon. Most of them worked together with Berninger and O’Brien in a Silverlake, CA basement studio.

Get Sunk’s first single, “Bonnet of Pins,” highlights Berninger’s knack for world-building, pointing to the tiny details that make it all palpable. There are cigarettes and styrofoam cups filled with “Nabokov cocktails,” miscommunication and sorrow. It’s a reminder that grief can also be a little funny.

In his work with The National, Berninger is known for contemplative narratives in which characters peer over the cliff’s edge. He has always been forthcoming about his own mental and emotional pitfalls.

As he explains:

“Our hearts are like old wells filled with pennies and worms. I can’t resist going down to the bottom of mine to see what else is there. But sometimes you can get yourself stuck.”

In 2020, he went through “a long period of writer’s block and self-disgust. I just got sick of asking myself, ‘Why am I like this?’” For Berninger, identity is amorphous, ever-evolving and stretches beyond individuality. This is the driving force of his second solo album. Underwater, everything moves in slow motion, and Berninger glimpsed his creative voice slipping away. But sometimes, we have to drown to remember how to breathe. Get Sunk is the inhale, bringing blurry realizations to the surface.

Berninger’s “gorgeous” (Rolling Stone) solo debut, Serpentine Prison, came out in early 2020, produced by the legendary Booker T. Jones. While he says the follow-up is not necessarily an autobiographical album, the narrator is processing how he became himself. Berninger is an expert in what it feels like to lose all bravery and Get Sunk points to an undulating reflection in the water. It’s about realizing that you are not yourself without a thousand others: parents, friends, siblings, spouses and exes, college roommates, childhood best friends, cousins, kids and even strangers.

Inspired by the flora and fauna of his new home in Connecticut after years of living in Los Angeles, Berninger wrote lyrics and drew all over baseballs and rearranged dust-covered items in his barn into strange and surreal works of art. It felt good to be creating and to understand why he loves what he does. “I was able to get the blurry picture as close to just right for me,” he says. That the picture ever comes into full focus isn’t the point; it’s by being happy that we can make out anything at all.

Berninger has also announced North American and UK/EU dates in support of Get Sunk, which will begin May 19th at The Showbox in Seattle, with a stop in Toronto on May 26th at the Concert Hall. The UK/EU dates then pick up on August 22nd in Dublin, Ireland. On tour, he will be backed by the core band that recorded Get Sunk, including Ronboy (Julia Laws), who will open the shows. A members-only presale for The National’s Cherry Tree fan club begins tomorrow, and tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday, March 14th, at 10:00 a.m. local time. Visit www.mattberninger.com for more information. VIP packages, including soundcheck access, will be available for most shows.

Matt Berninger ‘Get Sunk’ album artwork

Get Sunk Track Listing:

1. Inland Ocean
2. No Love
3. Bonnet of Pins
4. Frozen Oranges
5. Breaking Into Acting (feat. Hand Habits)
6. Nowhere Special
7. Little by Little
8. Junk
9. Silver Jeep (feat. Ronboy)
10. Times of Difficulty

Tour Dates:

05/19 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox
05/20 – San Francisco, CA – Bimbo’s 365 Club
05/21 – Los Angeles, CA – Palace Theatre
05/23 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
05/24 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
05/26 – Toronto, ON – Concert Hall
05/28 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
05/29 – Washington, DC – Lincoln Theatre
05/30 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
08/22 – Dublin, Ireland – Vicar Street
08/25 – Glasgow, UK – SWG3 Galvanizers
08/26 – Manchester, UK – Albert Hall
08/27 – London, UK – Troxy
08/28 – 08/31 – Nr Tolland Royal, Wiltshire, UK – End Of The Road Festival
08/31 – Utrecht, Netherlands – Tivoli Vredenburg
09/01 – Antwerp, Belgium – Olt Rivierenhof
09/02 – Paris, France – Elysee Montmartre
09/03 – Berlin, Germany – Huxleys
09/04 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
09/05 – Oslo, Norway – Rockefeller Music Hall