Watch The National’s Matt Berninger play solo material for the first time and air new album ‘Get Sunk’ in Leeds

Matt Berninger has played his solo material live for the first time, and aired his new album ‘Get Sunk’ at his show in Leeds.

The National frontman released his debut album ‘Serpentine Prison’ in 2020, but could not perform any of the tracks because of COVID. His new album ‘Get Sunk’ is due to arrive on 30th May via Concord/Book Records. Visit here to pre-order the new album.

Berninger has now played two intimate, sold-out, shows at Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club, on April 2 and 3, where he performed his solo material live for the first time – including unreleased snippets from his upcoming album.

Some of the songs he played included live debuts of ‘Inland Ocean’, ‘Breaking Into Acting’, ‘Junk’, ‘One More Second’, and ‘Little By Little’. He also played The National’s track ‘Gospel’. Watch some footage of Berninger performing at the intimate Leeds show below.

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Matt Berninger Setlist – Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club – April 2

‘Inland Ocean’
‘No Love’
‘Distant Axis’
‘Bonnet of Pins’
‘Breaking Into Acting’
‘Frozen Oranges’
‘Serpentine Prison’
‘Silver Springs’
‘Let It Be’
‘Junk’
‘All For Nothing’
‘One More Second’
‘Silver Jeep’
‘Little By Little’
‘Gospel’
‘Time of Difficulty’
Berninger is also set to play intimate shows at London’s KEF Music Gallery and Union Chapel, both accompanied by a Q&A hosted by Huw Stephens and Matt Everitt, respectively. The Leeds show had a Q&A between Berninger and BBC Radio 6’s Chris Hawkins.

Following these April dates, Berninger will embark on a tour across North America, the UK, and Europe.

These kick off with a series of North American stops this spring, commencing in Seattle on May 19. Other shows include stops in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and more. From there, the artist picks up the remainder of the tour this summer, making stops in Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester and London in August.

The shows wrap up with a series of European dates, including gigs in Antwerp, Paris, Berlin, Oslo, Copenhagen and more. Visit here to buy tickets to US and EU shows, and here for UK dates.

Speaking about going solo back in 2020, Berninger told NME: “Most of my songs are love songs to myself or that champion me. They’re cheerleading songs for my own soul. I’m writing things that I suspect Carin would like to say to me. You know, ‘I hope my daughter understands me’, ‘My mother will know this is about her’. They’re not just about me; they’re about the people that made me… me.”

Then, in September 2023, NME spoke to Berninger again, this time about his writing process and its interaction with his mental health. “I don’t believe in ghosts,” he said, “but I believe in the power of the belief in ghosts. It’s the same thing with God. I don’t really believe in it, but I believe in its power.”

Speaking about the difficulty of the lockdown period and the absence of touring, Berninger added: “I was coming out of a long period where I’d just dried up and was in a depression. I just couldn’t write and that triggered a panic of never being able to go back and do this thing. It’s the thing I love to do and I’m better at it than anything else.  When I couldn’t do that, it was pretty terrifying.”

“I tried to reboot myself physically, mentally and everything. Everything burned down. My brain burned to the ashes and I had to slowly rebuild it up again somehow,” he added. “It was sobering to realise how fragile I was. Looking back, I was sick as hell. It was a whole physical thing triggered by real things and mental things. It was a total emotional and physical paralysis. I’ve learned to just respect it and respect how fragile everyone is.”

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