Serpentine Prison by Matt Berninger

Matt Berninger may very well be my favorite performer, ever. If you’ve been following The Bacon Review for the last 11+ years, then there’s a good chance you’d know this already, given how much prominence the lead singer of The National has been allotted over the years. Including his main band’s appearances on the Top 31 (four times: #6 2019, #4 in 2017, #3 in 2013, and #1 in 2010), his side project, El Vy (#10 in 2015), and Berninger’s appearances in other performers’ albums (such as Chvrches and CYHSY), the man has been mentioned nearly every year that the countdown has existed.

I mention this history because it plays a big part in how I listen to and quantify the new stuff he puts out. It’s not just “how does this music compare to everything else this year?” but also “where within all the music of his that I love does this rate?” Never an easy question, and it inevitably changes over time. For instance, while The National’s High Violet ranked #1 in 2010, I don’t consider it the best amongst the four albums the band has on the countdown. (That honor currently goes to 2013’s Trouble Will Find Me. Ask me again tomorrow and I’ll give you a different answer.)

Serpentine Prison, Berninger’s first true “solo album,” is a great effort. No, it’s not a National album, but it’s damn close. And I’m sure it will stick with me a lot longer than the El Vy album has. Sonically, the album sounds similar to what a National album might be if they left the bombast that comes with a lot of their songs on the shelf. Prison is soft-spoken, and because of that it doesn’t immediately hook you. It’s more of a slow burn.

This is the kind of album that feels like good background music at first, but by the middle of the album you find yourself leaning in, listening intently, and picking out the hints of the album’s collaborators. The album has a good, down to earth feel that sounds full and polished, thanks to producer Booker T. Jones. (He of Booker T. & the MG’s and a ton of collaborations from the 60s on (including Otis Redding, Willie Nelson, Rita Coolidge, Bill Withers, and Neil Young, just to name a few.) Jones plays on a few songs as well, and helped bring together a slew of other big names to participate in the making of the record, including Andrew Bird, Gail Ann Dorsey (who featured prominently on The National’s 2019 album I Am Easy to Find), Brent Knopf (Berninger’s partner in crime in El Vy), and The National’s Scott Devendorf. The song above, “Distant Axis,” is probably my favorite of the album. The video is quite fun as well.

Berninger has been keeping himself busy since the last National album in 2019. In addition to creating this solo album, he’s released a couple of new songs worth listening to that don’t appear on the album. His fantastic duet with Phoebe Bridgers, called “Walking on a String,” is from Zach Galifianakis’s feature length “Between Two Ferns,” in which Berninger and Bridgers appear in the movie Phoebe Bridgers and The Spiders from Bars, along with two members of The Walkmen. He also released a cover of Mercury Rev’s “Holes” as part of a benefit series called “7-inches for Planned Parenthood.”

Perhaps after reading all this, you agree that Berninger is worthy of the praise I heap upon him. I can understand if his baritone and delivery aren’t your cup of tea, but I don’t think it’s possible to deny his greatness. Serpentine Prison is a worthy solo debut, and I highly recommend that you pick it up as soon as possible.

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1. Saint Cloud by Waxahatchee
2. Fetch The Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple
3. Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers
4. folklore + evermore by Taylor Swift
5. Untitled (Black Is) + Untitled (Rise) by Sault
6. RTJ4 by Run The Jewels
7. Shore by Fleet Foxes
8. Serpentine Prison by Matt Berninger
9. The Ascension by Sufjan Stevens
10. Making a Door Less Open by Car Seat Headrest
11. Dreamland by Glass Animals
12. A Hero’s Death by Fontaines D.C.
13. Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez by Gorillaz
14. Mordechai + Texas Sun EP by Khruangbin
15. Introduction, Presence by Nation of Language
16. Free Love by Sylvan Esso
17. Miss Anthropocene by Grimes
18. 3.15.20 by Childish Gambino
19. Women In Music Pt. III by HAIM
20. The Third Mind by The Third Mind
21. Superstar by Caroline Rose
22. Impossible Weight by Deep Sea Diver
23. We Will Always Love You by The Avalanches
24. Ultra Mono by IDLES
25. Visions of Bodies Being Burned by clipping.
26. Thin Mind by Wolf Parade
27. The Loves of Your Life by Hamilton Leithauser
28. Palo Alto (Live) by Thelonious Monk
29. color theory by Soccer Mommy
30. Fall to Pieces by Tricky
31. Quarantine Casanova by Chromeo

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