Serpentine Prison, the debut solo record from Matt Berninger—front man of internationally acclaimed group The National. It's soulful, poetic and understated. The album, produced by renowned Memphis multi-instrumentalist Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. and The MG’s fame) and released via Book Records, a new imprint formed by Berninger and Jones in conjunction with Concord Records. The album features contributions from a wide array of notable artists, including Matt Barrick (The Walkmen, Jonathan Fire*Eater), Andrew Bird, Mike Brewer, Hayden Desser, Scott Devendorf (The National), Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie, Lenny Kravitz), Booker T. Jones, Teddy Jones, Brent Knopf (EL VY, Menomena), Ben Lanz (The National, Beirut), Walter Martin (The Walkmen, Jonathan Fire*Eater), Sean O'Brien, Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan), Kyle Resnick (The National, Beirut), Matt Sheehy (EL VY, Lost Lander) and Harrison Whitford (Phoebe Bridgers). Additional production on the album was provided by Sean O’Brien.

After two decades of recording essential albums with The National it’s amazing that Berninger is still hitting out with albums of this calibre. ‘Serpentine Prison’ treats us to an intimate, quiet Matt thanks to acoustic instrumentation and stripped-back production bringing us closer to the poetry of his lyrics.

By Martha