Matt Berninger, commonly known as the lead singer of The National, has teamed up with Brent Knopf from Menomena and more recently Ramona Falls to form a new musical project: EL VY. The National are a band that have organically evolved into being one of the world’s biggest bands, recently touring the world following the release of their well-received album Trouble Will Find Me in 2013, including a headline show at London’s O2 arena in November of that year.
EL VY is a project that has been mulling for years. Matt and Brent met at the very infancy of their musical success, while performing in half-empty venues on the West Coast of America. The pair have remained in contact ever since. Brent continued to send rough ideas of music and Matt would return with lyrics and melodies. Between winter and spring of 2014-2015 they finally came together to make the record.
The duo released a music video with lyrics for ‘Return to the Moon’, which paints us a first glimpse of how the record will sound. It would seem that Matt Berninger’s dark story telling is neatly integrated into Knopf’s inventive production. The National are often distinguished as a band that ‘grows’ on the listener by musical critiques – Return to the Moon is a deviating contrast. The track is instantly infectious with a modern, charming melody and intricate rhyming couplets: “Bought a saltwater fish / from a colour blind witch”. The large, protracted composition of The National has been refined and transformed into contemporary San Francisco-sounding alternative. Matt’s idle baritone voice follows the melody effortlessly, each syllable perfectly in time with the restrained yet controlled funk staccato guitar appeal.
It’s a rarity that collaborations work well; often creativity is hard to galvanise, especially when artists have full control in their respective bands. Yet Matt and Brent have managed to intertwine the qualities they both possess to construct a gem. Knopf has said that he “never worried about sending Matt something unfinished. He’s able to imagine where it can go. He can grab the four bars that will become the core of the track and develop them into something amazing”. This type of working strategy isn’t one too dissimilar to The Smiths: Marr would send Morrissey a recording and Morrissey could see exactly where the song was going, by adding lyrics the tracks would turn into something special. Berninger said the song is “written in the voice of a few characters” – the use of characters is a writing style made successful by Ray Davies in The Kinks – ‘David Watts’ for example.
It has to be stated that both Ramona Falls and The National have record releases lined up; EL VY isn’t a result of band break ups or just a side project, but more an exciting look towards futuristic state-side indie. Return to the Moon is an intriguing, creative first track. The rest of the record is out October 30th.
Pre-order on iTunes here
Words by Aaron Spencer
Twitter: @aaronlspencer