ACL Interview: The National

Not-so-moody frontman on touring, recording, and family

"...National frontman Matt Berninger opens up about the Brooklyn quintet’s melancholic sound,..."

Oct. 4, 2013 Music Post by Doug Freeman

The National: Fury & Squalor

One night at the Moody down, two to come

"...“People love to sing about being alone together,” posited Matt Berninger before the National’s Austin City Limits Music Festival..."

April 22, 2014 Music Post by Doug Freeman

ACL Live Review: The National

U2’s arena rock heirs get obtuse

"...“I’m not actually that tired,” joked the National frontman Matt Berninger after crawling on the ground during “Graceless” from..."

Oct. 13, 2018 Music Post by Dan Gentile

Cyrano

Musical rewrite of the tragic love triangle never hits the high notes

"...Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, and – most especially – Matt Berninger of the National. The latter wrote the musical’s..."

Feb. 25, 2022 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The National

"...No one beats themselves up as beautifully as Matt Berninger. The National frontman's sinking baritone, which drowns conflicted..."

July 5, 2013 Music Review by Doug Freeman

ACL Fest Sunday Reviews

"...controlled punch. "We're half awake in a fake empire," Matt Berninger intones repeatedly on opener "Fake Empire," the hypnotic..."

Sept. 14, 2007 Music Feature by Doug Freeman

ACL Live Shot: the National

Loving our age’s terror, dread, drama

"...in the terror and dread of his own angst, Matt Berninger takes on the gripping anxiety of our age..."

Oct. 7, 2013 Music Post by Doug Freeman

ACL Interview: The National

5:30pm, AMD stage

"...fall off a chair at that show?" recalls frontman Matt Berninger, correctly. "I do remember enjoying that. I have..."

Oct. 4, 2013 Music Feature by Doug Freeman

Fun Fun Fun Fest Interviews: Saturday

Stepping in the ring with the Boxer

"...didn't really know what he was doing," laughs frontman Matt Berninger in his distinctly deep baritone. "We were nervous..."

Nov. 7, 2008 Music Feature by Doug Freeman

Other Music

History of a lost Manhattan record store keeps a basic tune

"...bad day, even implied as the customer's fault. When Matt Berninger of the National praises staff with a shitty..."

April 24, 2020 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

ACL Interview: The National, Part Two

Sunday, Oct. 13, 5:30pm, Lady Bird stage

"...The National frontman and lyricist Matt Berninger reveals the truth behind the Brooklyn quintet's melancholic..."

Oct. 4, 2013 Music Feature by Doug Freeman

The National

"...Park. The Brooklyn-based National is led by scruffy, suit-wearing Matt Berninger, a singer whose stage presence and songs make..."

Oct. 15, 2010 Music Review by Dan Oko

The National

"...major shift is that the burnt baritone of singer Matt Berninger leads the tunes less than the compositional flair..."

July 2, 2010 Music Review by Doug Freeman

'Night' Flight

The National, the documentary

"...film is one of isolation and introspection, which parallels Matt Berninger’s songwriting. When the film closes with the band..."

May 22, 2008 Music Post by Doug Freeman

The National

Sunday, Sept. 16, Zilker park

"...surging crescendos of violin, guitar, and keyboards crashing over Matt Berninger's melancholic vocals projected an overwhelming power, openers "Start..."

Sept. 21, 2007 Music Review by Doug Freeman

ACL Music Fest Sunday Interview

The evolution of Brooklyn's dark horse of indie rock

"...night melancholic odes blanketed by the morose comfort of Matt Berninger deeply droned, cryptically imagistic lyricism. As the Brooklyn..."

Oct. 8, 2010 Music Feature by Doug Freeman

David Ramirez Album Review

My Love Is a Hurricane (Thirty Tigers)

"...to match the balladeer's own vocal pendulum from understated Matt Berninger brood to emphatic Nathaniel Rateliff growl. The B-side..."

July 17, 2020 Music Feature by Doug Freeman

ACL Music Fest 2018: Friday, Second Weekend

"...Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches and Matt Berninger of The National..."

Oct. 13, 2018 Photo Gallery

99 Luftballons (International Acts at SXSW Music)

South by Southwest by way of Sudan, Scotland, Colombia, and more

"...into the dramas of adulthood like Craig Finn or Matt Berninger at their most aggressive. The Sydney-based quintet reached..."

March 16, 2018 Music Feature

David Ramirez

"..."Villain." The slow-drip rhythm of "Time" hypnotizes behind a Matt Berninger-like drawl, while "Stone Age" touches toward Mark Knopfler,..."

Oct. 27, 2017 Music Review by Doug Freeman

Day of the Dead

(4AD)

"...of levity or risk. The National's "Morning Dew" hypnotizes, Matt Berninger's baritone romancing the Bonnie Dobson-penned tune's post-apocalyptic narrative..."

Dec. 16, 2016 Music Feature by Neph Basedow

San Fermin

"...eventual tourniquet together. Tate's low croon hearkens the National's Matt Berninger with corresponding melancholy, while Wolfe and Laessig trill..."

March 14, 2014 Music Review by Doug Freeman

Off the Record

Austin City Limits Music Festival 2010: No rain, no dust, no problem

"...under the emotional weight of our own music." – Matt Berninger at the National's Austin City Limits taping Monday..."

Oct. 15, 2010 Music Column by Austin Powell

International Bands

Saturday

"...a heated exchange between P.J. Harvey and the National's Matt Berninger...."

March 20, 2009 Music Feature

The National

Saturday

"...angst-rattled aesthetic still propelled the headlining set as frontman Matt Berninger bathed in the blue light and cradled the..."

Nov. 14, 2008 Music Review by Doug Freeman

Thursday Sleepers

SXSW picks & sleepers

"...is due soon. – Michael ChamyTHE NATIONAL9pm, Buffalo Billiards Matt Berninger's shadowy tenor is pure Joy Division, Smiths, Psych..."

March 18, 2005 Music Feature