Serpentine Prison shows off a new side of Matt Berninger, but it’s hard to imagine anyone other than existing fans of the National picking it up.
As far as indie rock singers go, Matt Berninger has done a good job of standing out. His rich baritone is distinctive enough to evade accusations that he tries to sound like Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, which sets him apart from Paul Banks of Interpol, Tom Smith of Editors, and Harry McVeigh of White Lies. His lyrics also range from the witty (“it’s half your fault so half forgive me”) to the sincere (“I need my girl”) to the perplexing (“I was a white girl in a crowd of white girls in the park”), and he’s even screamed his lines on a few early tracks. It also helps that Berninger is the singer of critical darlings the National, who haven’t really made a bad album yet.
When Berninger announced his solo album Serpentine Prison, the first question that came to my mind was how he would sound without his bandmates, the Dessner brothers and the Devendorf brothers. After all, Berninger’s voice is just one part of the National, and Bryan Devendorf’s drumming plays an equal if not greater role in generating their signature sound. Berninger has performed outside the National before, most notably as part of the duo EL VY with Brent Knopf (of the bands Ramona Falls and Menomena). I figured this might hint at what solo Berninger could sound like, since EL VY’s only album Return to the Moon had a swagger unheard of on any National album. However, Berninger does not share his billing with anyone else on Serpentine Prison.
Of course, solo albums are rarely the work of one musician alone, and Berninger admitted that the recording of Serpentine Prison was “the opposite of a solo effort—it was a huge group effort.” As evidence, you’re sure to recognize some of the names on the album’s list of personnel, including Andrew Bird, Scott Devendorf (the National’s bassist), Walter Martin (of the Walkmen), Matt Barrick (also of the Walkmen and Muzz), Brent Knopf (the other half of EL VY who I just mentioned), and several others. Booker T. Jones, who has worked with figures from Bill Withers to Neil Young, serves as producer on Serpentine Prison, and Berninger speaks glowingly of Jones’ work on Willie Nelson’s cover album Stardust.
This might explain why Serpentine Prison tilts toward a milder “adult contemporary” sound, along with traditional American musical styles such as folk and country. This isn’t wholly unprecedented for Berninger, as the National dabbled in these genres on their first couple albums before moving head-first into the brooding rock we all know and love. Therefore, you shouldn’t be surprised when a folk-rock track like “One More Second” knocks it out of the park, with Jones’s organ solo before the final chorus really nailing it. Similarly folky, “Distant Axis” sounds almost identical to the Decemberists’ “The Crane Wife 3” thanks to its acoustic guitar chord progressions, which Colin Meloy is fine with. “Loved so Little” gets more country, with a distinctively ominous sounding harmonica and a bit of twang in its stringed instruments.
At times, Berninger’s sound on Serpentine Prison can be hard to discern from the National. “Take Me Out of Town” has enough piano and horns to make it sounds like an outtake from Boxer or The Virginia EP. That’s not a bad thing, since these were two great releases, but it’s a little too comfortably within his wheelhouse. Going back further, “Oh Dearie” has the acoustic plucking and sad strings of the National’s “About Today” from the 2004 EP Cherry Tree. On the contrary, “Silver Springs” managed to subvert my expectations. Because it’s a duet between Berninger and Gail Ann Dorsey, who featured on several tracks on the National’s I Am Easy to Find, I expected a track resembling something from that album. However, it has a sophisticated jazz lounge feel to it, which is all new for Berninger, and is one of the highlights of Serpentine Prison.
Berninger’s lyricism remains as enjoyably all over the place as ever, as demonstrated by the title track. On one hand, he ends a chorus with “total submission, I’ve seen a vision, call electrician, serpentine prison,” which doesn’t make any more sense in the song’s context. On the other hand, clever lines like “nobody’s ever really thinking about us half as much as we want them to be” speak for themselves. Erring more on the cryptic side, a track called “My Eyes Are T-Shirts” opens the album with the metaphor “my eyes are t-shirts, they’re so easy to read, I wear them for you but they’re all about me.” I don’t get it either, but then the poignancy of a track like “One More Second” is nothing but plainspoken desperation. He wrote this song as something of an answer to Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” and it really reverberates with lyrics like “give me one more year to get back on track, give me one more life to win you back.” As with the National and EL VY, Berninger’s solo work can both tug at your heartstrings and make you scratch your head.
Some lead singers who go solo choose to do something completely different from their main project (see: Thom Yorke and Kele Okereke), while others don’t stray too far from their bread and butter (see: Conor Oberst). Serpentine Prison falls mostly, but not entirely, into the latter category. It shows off a new side of Berninger, but it’s hard to imagine anyone other than existing fans of the National picking it up. It has enough oldies influence from its production to make your parents say, “oh this is nice,” and there’s lush, beautiful instrumentation throughout. Even if it’s only a half-step away from the National and doesn’t fully carve out its own niche, it still solidifies Berninger’s track record as one of the few indie musicians who have yet to falter.
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