The National’s Matt Berninger Confirms Sophomore Solo Album & 2025 Tour Dates

The National frontman Matt Berninger will release his sophomore solo album, Get Sunk, on May 30 via Book/Concord Records. Berninger announced his first solo tour dates in support of the upcoming LP, which he previewed with the new single, “Bonnet Of Pins.”

For Get Sunk, Berninger collaborated with Grammy Award-winning producer and engineer Sean O’Brien, who also contributed as co-writer on several cuts. An impressive and eclectic array of musicians enriched the 10-track follow-up to 2020’s Serpentine Prison, including Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), Julia Laws (Ronboy), Kyle Resnick (The National, Beirut), Garret Lang, Sterling Laws, Booker T Jones, Harrison Whitford, Mike Brewer, and The Walkmen’s Walter Martin and Paul Maroon. The majority of the pending album was recorded in an intimate basement studio setting in Silverlake, California.

The year 2020 brought Berninger face-to-face with “a long period of writer’s block and self-disgust. I just got sick of asking myself ‘Why am I like this?'” He’s never shied away from exposing his own psychological struggles in his work with The National and continues to do so on Get Sunk. “Our hearts are like old wells filled with pennies and worms,” Berninger reflected. “I can’t resist going down to the bottom of mine to see what else is there. But sometimes you can get yourself stuck.”

“For Berninger, identity is amorphous, ever-evolving and stretches beyond individuality. This is the driving force of his second solo album,” noted press materials for Get Sunk. “Underwater, everything moves in slow motion, and Berninger glimpsed his creative voice slipping away. But sometimes we have to drown to remember how to breathe. Get Sunk is the inhale, bringing blurry realizations to the surface.”

Matt Berninger’s talent for character building is showcased in “Bonnet Of Pins,” the first taste of Get Sunk. The rollicking track features swirling acoustic and electric guitars as well as horns over which Berninger sings.

Stream Matt Berninger’s “Bonnet Of Pins” single below:

Matt Berninger and the core band that recorded Get Sunk will kick off their tour with a performance in Seattle on May 19 at The Showbox. The trek continues in San Francisco on May 20 at Bimbo’s 365 Club followed by a stop in Los Angeles on May 21 at the Palace Theatre.

After heading to the Midwest, Berninger will perform in Minneapolis on May 23 at First Avenue. He’ll then appear in Chicago on May 24 at Thalia Hall. The tour crosses the border for a performance in Toronto on May 26. Berninger will head to Philadelphia on May 28 for a show at Union Transfer. The North American leg concludes with performances in Washington D.C. on May 29 at Lincoln Theatre and in New York on May 30 at Webster Hall. Dates in Ireland, the U.K. and Europe are scheduled for August 23 through September 6.

Tickets for the newly announced dates go on sale to the general public on Friday, March 14 at 10 a.m. local time. Find links to purchase and the full itinerary below.

Get Sunk Tracklist

1. Inland Ocean
2. No Love
3. Bonnet of Pins
4. Frozen Oranges
5. Breaking Into Acting (feat. Hand Habits)
6. Nowhere Special
7. Little by Little
8. Junk
9. Silver Jeep (feat. Ronboy)
10. Times of Difficulty