The National's Matt Berninger shares new solo single 'Distant Axis' | NME
The National frontman Matt Berninger has shared ‘Distant Axis’, the second single from his forthcoming debut solo album ‘Serpentine Prison’.
The track arrives with a video directed by Berninger himself, along with his brother, Mistaken for Strangers director Tom Berninger, and Chris Sgroi.
Watch it below:
Berninger says ‘Distant Axis’ developed from a demo sent to him by The Walkmen‘s Walter Martin.
“I met Walter Martin fifteen years ago when The National opened for Walkmen on a tour of shitty clubs in the American southeast. On that tour, I learned a lot about how to be in a band without ruining your life. I also learned a lot about Florida, Tennessee and Georgia,” commented Berninger.
“Walt and I have stayed friends, and about three years ago we started passing ideas back and forth. Distant Axis started from a sketch Walt sent me named Savannah. I think it’s about falling out of touch with someone or something you once thought would be there forever.”
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Read more: The National’s Matt Berninger on 10 years of ‘High Violet’: “We wanted to reach everybody”
‘Distant Axis’ follows the title track from ‘Serpentine Prison’, which was released back in May. The album, produced by Booker T. Jones, is set to arrive on October 2.
Back in April, Berninger announced he had signed a record deal with Concord Records to release the album on his and Jones’ new imprint Book Records.
In addition to Jones and Martin, the album features contributions from a wide array of friends and collaborators, including Matt Barrick, Andrew Bird, Scott Devendorf, Brent Knopf and Ben Lanz.
Last year, Berninger and his The National bandmates released their latest album ‘I Am Easy To Find’, alongside a Mike Mills-directed short film of the same name starring Alicia Vikander.
Berninger also joined forces with Phoebe Bridgers last year for their collaborative single ‘Walking on a String’ for the Between Two Ferns film.
Back in May, Berninger announced that he and his brother Tom are working on a sequel to Mistaken For Strangers, as well as a TV show.
