Music Review: The National singer Matt Berninger's 'Get Sunk' can't swim solo. It doesn't need to

Matt Berninger's brooding, droning baritone is difficult to separate from The National's alt-rock brand of upbeat electric-guitar escape from minor-key plunges into the life's depths

Matt Berninger's brooding, droning baritone is difficult to separate from The National.

His second solo album, “Get Sunk,” doesn't diverge much from the alt-rock band he's fronted for more than a quarter-century. And why should it?

The National's sad-dad brand exists in the bittersweet spot between Berninger's complex lyrics and a melodic versatility. And "Get Sunk” sounds more like an extension of the band's catalog than a self-serving experiment for a restless songwriter.

It works on both levels — with the album's familiar, upbeat electric guitar-escapes.

But when compared to his band's repertoire, “Get Sunk” runs out of steam. Even with his consistently clever lyrics, a couple of lethargic songs can drag down a 10-track lineup.

The record arrives a few years after a struggle with pandemic-driven depression, as he detailed in an interview with David Letterman. Berninger was hit by a bad case of writer’s block after his first solo record, “Serpentine Prison,” came out in 2020.

The National’s release of two new albums five months apart in 2023, after a four-year hiatus, helped thaw some of Berninger's frozen creativity. His family moved from California to Connecticut that year, too, further aiding his reset; he began reading and painting in the fresh air.

On “Get Sunk," the third track, “Bonnet of Pins,” brings a hard edge, evoking the band's “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” record from 2017. “Get Sunk” producer Sean O'Brien cranks on the guitar. Drummer Sterling Laws does his best impression of The National stalwart Bryan Devendorf. Julia Laws, whose indie rock band Ronboy has been touring with Berninger, sings backup on this smoky, stressful encounter with an ex-lover.

“It’s a cup trick shell game, it’s a puff of smoke/And it gets me every time, it’s a pretty good joke,” Berninger sings. “I know that you miss me, I know that you miss me/This stuff takes a lifetime.”

With the infectious opener “Inland Ocean” bursting with a reverbed guitar that pulsates throughout the song, “Get Sunk” gets revved up right away. Even on the downbeat “Nowhere Special," Berninger is at his songwriting best ambling through a rant about an on-again, off-again relationship: “A bat can haul our recording equipment into the woods/I know we shouldn’t but I feel like we should.” The closer, “Times of Difficulty,” is tailor-made for a live-show singalong with the chant “Get drunk! Get sunk! Forget! Get wet!” that marks Berninger's search for clarity and creativity.

Much like The National's 2019 album “I Am Easy to Find,” which brought in several women to pair vocals with his gravelly baritone, “Get Sunk” follows suit. Laws sings on eight of the 10 tracks, and Meg Duffy of the band Hand Habits joins Berninger on the sentimental “Frozen Oranges."

The sleepiness of “Frozen Oranges” is also the first warning there's just not enough energy to cover a whole album, not quite enough strength for “Get Sunk” to swim on its own. Berninger will be forever intertwined with The National, a connection there's no need to undo.

___

For more AP reviews of recent music releases, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/music-reviews