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Matt Berninger in the Video for "Walking On a String"

Oct 18, 2019 Matt Berninger By Christopher Roberts

Matt Berninger of The National has announced his debut solo album. It’s entitled Serpentine Prison and has been produced and arranged by Booker T. Jones. Berninger announced the news on Instagram, accompanied by a photo of him and Jones in the studio. No further details on the album, such as the release date, tracklist, and cover art, have been shared. Nor has any new music from the album been shared. “More about it soon but basically I’m the luckiest man in the universe with lots of brilliant friends who can play instermints,” wrote Berninger. “Not worthy!” Check out the post below.

Berninger recently shared a new solo song, “Walking On a String,” which features Phoebe Bridgers. Berninger and Bridgers performed the song in Netflix’s Between Two Ferns: The Movie and then shared a studio version of the song via a black & white video featuring them recording it. There’s no word on whether or not the song will be featured on Serpentine Prison.

Berninger wrote “Walking On a String” in collaboration with his wife, writer Carin Besser, and musician Mike Brewer. The song was recorded at Sound City, CA with Walter Martin (guitar) and Matt Barrick (drums), both formerly of The Walkmen. Bridgers, Tony Berg, and Ethan Gruska all produced the song, which is out now via Dead Oceans. Tom Berninger and Chris Sgroi directed, shot, and edited the music video.

Scott Auckerman directed Between Two Ferns: The Movie, which stars Zach Galifianakis and is a spinoff of his web series Between Two Ferns, in which he conducts awkward interviews with celebrities (including then President Barack Obama). Galifianakis and Auckerman wrote the movie, which also features various celebrities playing themselves, including Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Gal Gadot, Hailee Steinfeld, Keanu Reeves, Bruce Willis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Matthew McConaughey, Brie Larson, Tessa Thompson, Rashida Jones, Jon Hamm, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Adam Scott, David Letterman, and several others. In one scene in the movie Berninger, Bridgers, and their band perform “Walking On a String” in a bar. Galifianakis shows up at the end of the music video.

The National released a new album, I Am Easy to Find, back in May via 4AD. It was our Album of the Week and you can stream it here. I Am Easy to Find is accompanied by a 24-minute short film also directed by Mike Mills and starring Oscar-winning Swedish actress Alicia Vikander.

View this post on Instagram

Kind, patient, visionary genius @bookertjonesmusic produced and arranged my solo record. It’s called Serpentine Prison.???? More about it soon but basically I’m the luckiest man in the universe with lots of brilliant friends who can play instermints. Not worthy! ???????????? ???????? Booker’s incredibly inspiring memoir, Time Is Tight, is out 10/29. NYTimes link in bio. ????= @oldstyleguitarshop

A post shared by greengloves777 (@greengloves777) on Oct 17, 2019 at 9:07pm PDT

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