Matt Berninger (of The National) Releases “Breaking Into Acting” feat. Hand Habits

Matt Berninger, the frontman and lyricist for The National, recently announced his second solo album, Get Sunk, out May 30th through Book/Concord Records. Today, he offers a second taste of the record with “Breaking Into Acting” featuring Hand Habits. The song, which features Meg Duffy (Hand Habits) on vocals, laments on the plasticity of performance. “Your mouth is always full of blood packets / You’re breaking into acting / I completely understand,” the pair sing over a slow acoustic sway.

He explains:

“Sometimes you have to fake forgiveness before you can actually forgive.”

Berninger and Duffy also appear in the music video for “Breaking Into Acting” directed by Hopper Mills.

Berninger worked on the Get Sunk 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.

Berninger just concluded a trio of sold-out, intimate shows across the UK, joined by Sean O’Brien and Julia Laws.

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.

He states:

“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. 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.

Matt Berninger ‘Get Sunk’ album artwork

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 and pick up 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. Visit www.mattberninger.com for more information. VIP packages, including soundcheck access, will be available for most shows.

Tour Dates:

05/19 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox
05/20 – San Francisco, CA – Bimbo’s 365 Club *SOLD OUT
05/21 – Los Angeles, CA – Palace Theatre
05/23 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
05/24 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall *SOLD OUT
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 *SOLD OUT
06/01 – Norwalk, CT – District Music Hall
08/22 – Dublin, Ireland – Vicar Street
08/23 – Dublin, Ireland – Vicar Street *SOLD OUT
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 *SOLD OUT
09/01 – Antwerp, Belgium – OLT Rivierenhof *SOLD OUT
09/02 – Paris, France – Elysee Montmartre
09/04 – Berlin, Germany – Huxleys
09/05 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
09/06 – Oslo, Norway – Rockefeller Music Hall
09/08 – Hamburg, Germany – Große Freiheit 36
09/09 – Utrecht, Netherlands – Tivoli Vredenburg
09/10 – Antwerp, Belgium – OLT Rivierenhof *SOLD OUT
09/12 – Brussels, Belgium – Cirque Royal