Accepting Sadness In A Serpentine Prison
Some notes from the solo debut of Matt Berninger.
To be honest, I didn’t really remember where and when I first heard about Matt Berninger. However, I am quite sure I heard more about him from Phoebe Bridgers or Taylor Swift. Matt Berninger is the vocalist of The National, a band that I don’t really listen religiously. He works on a collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers in 2019. His bandmate, Aaron Dessner, is the main collaborator in one of the most mesmerizing album born out of this pandemic, Folklore by Taylor Swift.
Matt Berninger just released his first solo debut, Serpentine Prison. Somehow I just feel that kind of joy where you find something beautiful in an unexpected ways. His way of singing with his deep baritone but calm voice has a unique emotional feeling. I would say it’s just enough amount of sad, a mature sad.
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In many ways, the album also feels like just in-time as the pandemic is still here. Going out of town seems like a good idea but I am still not sure if it’s that good. Matt Berninger sings in Take Me Out Of Town:
Wake me,
take me out of town to the end of any road,
that you wanna go down.
My other favorite in the album is Silver Springs, where he duets with Gail Ann Dorsey. Gail Ann Dorsey is best known as the bassist who worked with David Bowie. The duets bring some melancholy to this runaway song.
Don’t talk, don’t cry, don’t try so hard
Don’t suck, don’t die, get out run far from home
They’ll never understand you anyway in Silver Springs
The album also has a deep sense of vulnerability. He croons heart-wrenchingly in the hit One More Seconds:
Just give me a little more time
Give me a little bit of warning
Baby, I’m gonna be fine
When I figure out where I’m going
Listening to this album is like listening to personal stories from a man whose been aging and getting mature graciously. The album feels like a cool dad that I can look up to.
The album ended with Serpentine Prison which feels like a humble acceptance of any sadness we might feel.
Don’t try to connect the dots anymore
Let ’em go, they’re gonna do it on their own
Tell me that I’m not in this alone
And, man, I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I’m slow
I feel like an impersonation of you
Or am I doin’ another version of you doin’ me?
Nobody’s ever really thinkin’ about us
Half as much as we want ’em to be
Serpentine Prison by Matt Berninger is available in Spotify.
Matt Berninger had a “Long Distance Call” session for ARTE Concert few days ago with beautiful songs from his debut album.
