Matt Berninger - Get Sunk

Of all the peculiar spectacles the pandemic provided us with, the lead singer of arguably America’s most beloved indie rock band making his solo debut at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds last month is right up there with the strangest. Matt Berninger released his first album under his own name, ‘Serpentine Prison’, in 2020, but couldn’t tour it; as such, this follow-up feels like a first proper go-around as his own man.

Not just because he’ll be taking ‘Get Sunk’ out on the road, either; his last record felt scattershot, like he was feeling his way into operating without the compositions of the Dessner twins to write for, and there were perhaps too may collaborators spoiling the broth. This time, he’s pared things back; while a revolving door policy remained in place for contributors, he largely locked himself in a basement studio with producer Sean O’Brien to zero in on the songs.

The results are marvellous; he has freer reign to experiment than he might with The National, and it shows, whether on soothing, choir-driven opener ‘Inland Ocean’, the freewheeling rock of lead single ‘Bonnet of Pins’, and a pair of sumptuous duets in ‘Breaking Into Acting’ and ‘Silver Jeep’, with Hand Habits and Ronboy respectively. There is still room for what feels like his natural habitat - the wistful ‘Frozen Oranges’ is classic, reflective Berninger - but in the main, this is the sound of him really beginning to stretch his legs as a solo artist.