The National frontman released the contemplative track ‘Inland Ocean’ from his upcoming second solo LP ‘Get Sunk’.

The album is due to be released in full on May 30 before the Ohio born musician tours it around the UK this August.

Following on from his 2020 solo debut ‘Serpentine Prison’, Berninger has already shared two snippets of his new work with fans. ‘Bonnet of Pins’ and the beautiful collaboration with LA-based musician Hand Habits, ‘Breaking Into Action’.

Berninger never had the chance to play his first solo album live due to the Covid pandemic, so five years after it’s release he finally played his first solo gig just last month. Brudenell Social Club in Leeds were treated to two intimate, sold-out performances at the beginning of April.

These gigs were where the ‘About Today’ singer first shared what he has been working on for this upcoming album. Both ‘Breaking Into Action’ and the new single ‘Inland Ocean’ were played at Brudenell, as well as The National classic ‘Gospel’. Check out footage from the sold-out shows below.

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A post shared by Brudenell Social Club (@nath_brudenell)

Berninger spoke to NME in 2020 about going solo for the first time, saying: “Most of my songs are love songs to myself or that champion me. They’re cheerleading songs for my own soul. I’m writing things that I suspect Carin [his daughter] would like to say to me. You know, ‘I hope my daughter understands me’, ‘My mother will know this is about her’. They’re not just about me; they’re about the people that made me… me.”

After releasing ‘Serpentine Prison’ during Covid, Berninger admitted that he fell into a poor mental state as he struggled to find inspiration during the difficult time.

Opening up in 2023, he told NME: “I was coming out of a long period where I’d just dried up and was in a depression. I just couldn’t write and that triggered a panic of never being able to go back and do this thing. It’s the thing I love to do and I’m better at it than anything else. When I couldn’t do that, it was pretty terrifying.

“I tried to reboot myself physically, mentally and everything. Everything burned down. My brain burned to the ashes and I had to slowly rebuild it up again somehow. It was sobering to realise how fragile I was. Looking back, I was sick as hell.”

Fans of Berninger will be pleased to see him back to his best, as he also recently teased a new “punk rock inspired album” for The National, saying: “The guys send me rock songs all the time, but I can’t fake that. People can hear a fake rock song because it just sounds so pathetic and effortful. I’ve got to actually be in the zone and feeling it.”

For those of you interested in seeing Berninger live, he will play intimate shows throughout the UK this August.

Kicking things off in Dublin on 23 August, he will then head to Glasgow, Manchester and London, before finishing off at the End Of The Road festival in Wiltshire.

Tickets are available here costing about £40 plus booking fees.

In a post on the singer’s Instagram page, he shared a video of him performing his song “Wake Me Up” from his 2011 album + in the living room of an overwhelmed and excited fan.

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A post shared by Ed Sheeran (@teddysphotos)

Sheeran said in his post “So I did some surprise pop up gigs in fans houses, secretly recording a live version of Autumn Variations where each song is recorded in a different fans living room, but all of it was a total surprise.” The Instagram teaser also revealed that “The fan living room live Autumn Variations album coming soon, proper album out September 29th go preorder you legends x”.

The pop star’s upcoming seventh album is produced by Aaron Dessner of American band The National, who also worked with Sheeran on his album - (Subtract) which was released in May and marked the end of the singer’s so-called “mathematical era”. In a statement via Rolling Stone, Sheeran spoke on working with Dessner, stating “When I recorded ‘-’ (‘Subtract’) with Aaron Dessner, we clicked immediately. We wrote and recorded non-stop and this album was born out of that partnership. I feel he has captured the feeling of autumn so wonderfully in his sonics and I hope everyone loves it as much as I do.”.

It is said that Sheeran’s upcoming Autumn Variations is inspired by a piece of 19th century orchestral work by composer Edward Elgar, titled Enigma Variations.

Sheeran will be promoting his new album by performing Autumn Variations in full at London’s Royal Albert Hall this November. Tickets are available here.

Recording the live version of Autumn Variations is not the only surprise the “Eyes Closed” singer has given fans recently. Last week, the musician surprised two fans in Las Vegas by giving an unplanned performance at their wedding. For their special day, Sheeran performed the song “Magical” from his upcoming LP. The singer uploaded this moment to his Instagram, with the caption “Crashed a wedding, this is Magical x”

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You can preorder Autumn Variations here.

Tour dates:

18/11/2023 – Royal Albert Hall – London

19/11 – Royal Albert Hall – London

The LP, titled Autumn Variations, sees the “Bad Habits” hitmaker reunite with multi-instrumentalist and super-producer Aaron Dessner of The National, together with whom Sheeran first worked on Subtract. 

Following a series of mysterious Instagram posts teasing new music last week, the singer finally confirmed fan speculations in a video announcement posted to his socials:

“Hello everyone, the sun is shining, but autumn is coming. I have an announcement: I have an album that I’ve made called Autumn Variations. This is a record that I was sort of making at the same time as Subtract – it’s what me and Aaron went in originally to make. […]”

Sheeran revealed that the title of the new album was inspired by classical composer Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations. “He did 14 songs about 14 friends, so I wanted to make 14 songs about 14 friends and base it on autumn.” 

In his video description, the prolific songwriter further elaborated on his decision to centre the album around an autumnal theme:

“Last autumn, I found that my friends and I were going through so many life changes. After the heat of the summer, everything either calmed, settled, fell apart, came to a head or imploded. When I went through a difficult time at the start of last year, writing songs helped me understand my feelings and come to terms with what was going on, and when I learned about my friend’s different situations, I wrote songs, some from their perspectives, some from mine, to capture how they and I viewed the world at that time. There were highs of falling in love and new friendships among lows of heartbreak, depression, loneliness and confusion.”

Check out the album artwork below:

Autumn is finally coming! Autumn Variations, the new album, will be released on 29th September.

Pre-order & pre-save nowhttps://t.co/KTL8XSvxkR pic.twitter.com/B3LhoLjElZ

— Ed Sheeran HQ (@edsheeran) August 24, 2023

Sheeran went on to credit his father and brother for introducing him to Elgar and the idea of writing 14 songs for 14 friends, before acknowledging Dessner’s contributions to the new project:

“When I recorded Subtract with Aaron Dessner, we clicked immediately. We wrote and recorded non-stop and this album was born out of that partnership. I feel he has captured the feeling of autumn so wonderfully in his sonics and I hope everyone loves it as much as I do.”

The new album comes as Sheeran approaches the end of his record-breaking Mathematics Tour, which wraps up on September 23 in Los Angeles – just under a week before Autumn Variations hits stores worldwide. View the new track-list below:

1. “Magical”
2. “England”
3. “Amazing”
4. “Plastic Bag”
5. “Blue”
6. “American Town”
7. “That’s On Me”
8. “Page”
9. “Midnight”
10. “Spring”
11. “Punchline”
12. “When Will I Be Alright”
13. “The Day I Was Born”
14. “Head > Heels”

Pre-order Autumn Variations here.

The National, who had already headlined the festival, played two new songs for fans “This Isn’t Helping” and “About Today”, which they introduced by saying, “Whenever we play this one, we think of Scott,” before launching into the opening line, “Today…You were far away…and I… Didn’t ask you why”.

The festival’s Tiny Changes x Gardeners Cottage was set up in collaboration with Tiny Changes, a charity that supports young people’s mental health and was founded in Hutchison’s honour after his suicide in 2018.  Scott had performed on a similar stage at the original Connect Festival in 2006. Tiny Changes is Scotland’s first charity that supports young people with mental health problems and raised over £4,500 over the festival weekend.

The National’s Aaron Dessner told those in attendance, “Thank you so much, it’s a pleasure to support Tiny Changes. Scott was a really close friend of ours, and like you guys, we were huge fans of Frightened Rabbit. We were devastated when he left. This charity is amazing, and any awareness we can raise for mental health, we want to do that because we all struggle with it.”

NME reported Tiny Changes Kara Brown, CEO of Tiny Changes, feelings, “Connect Festival – a similar stage to one Scott played at back in 2006 – is something we will remember forever and the perfect ending to an incredible weekend of live music, helping young minds feel better.”

DF CEO Geoff Ellis added, “Grant from Frightened Rabbit asking The National if they’d do a secret set at our Tiny Changes Gardeners Cottage is what Connect Festival is all about – a totally unique experience and an appreciation of friendship and connections.”

The National recently headlined London’s All Points East Festival performing their new single “Weird Goodbyes” with Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold. The band have been performing the song since last May, playing it for the first time on May 28^th in Pamplona, Spain. “Weird Goodbyes” features Bon Iver and was released on August 22^nd, and is available on all platforms.

Our new single “Weird Goodbyes” featuring @boniver is out now on all platforms. We hope you love it as much as we do.https://t.co/38DadlvMEX pic.twitter.com/MBOlHgpGzC

— The National (@TheNational) August 22, 2022

In a statement for the song reported by NME, Berninger said, “It’s about letting go of the past and moving on, then later being overwhelmed by second thoughts.” Dessner added, “‘Weird Goodbyes’ was one of the first new songs we made. I was misusing drum machines, as usual, and stumbled onto this beat that got stuck in my head – it felt like something only Bryan could naturally play. We built the song around the beat. Matt’s melody and words felt so elegant and moving from the beginning – mourning a loss of innocence and motivation, holding onto memories and feelings that inevitably slip away and the grief we all suffer in weird goodbyes.”

The American band The National are due to headline Victoria Park on August 26, with the likes of Fleet Foxes, Lucy Dacus, Kurt Vile and more already confirmed to support them. Always gifted with a brilliant lineup for those that enjoy slightly left leaning artists with a pop edge, All Points East has been going since the summer of 2018 and is an annual festival that enjoys 10 days of events. These 10 days comprise of 1 festival weekend, 4 free entry days with community activities known as “In The Neighbourhood”, and finally 3 standalone headline shows as part of the “All Points East Presents” series. This years APE Presents is sponsored by Ray-Ban and has already hosted London’s own Sherelle back on May 26th at Colour Factory, Kenny Beats at Koko on June 9th, with Self Esteem due to close out the series in style at EartH Hackney on July 14th.

So excited to join The National on this amazing line up for @allpointseastuk in Victoria Park, London on Fri 26 Aug! https://t.co/Ra1Ujr1ozf pic.twitter.com/fcQxev47RY

— Villagers (@wearevillagers) June 29, 2022

Irish indie folk band Villagers are also new additions to Friday’s bill for those looking to be hypnotised by Conor J O’Brien’s cunning lyricism and effortlessly crafted melody. Or in a similar vain there is of course the beautiful and timeless folk of Fleet Foxes to satisfy your rootsy yearnings. New inclusions Parcels are around to get you dancing with their disco inspired indie tunes, and Kurt Vile and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard there to bring the grit for those after something a little heavier and psychedelic. There really is something for everyone at All Points East, having been last year and been blown away by Loyle Carner to then walk around the corner and be put in a trance by the chic chill of Lianne La Lavas, it’s eclecticism is it’s greatest strength.

The full lineup for Friday has now been confirmed as The National, Fleet Foxes, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Kurt Vile, Perfume Genius, Parcels, Low, Lucy Dacus, Villagers, Tune Yards, Rae Morris, Valerie June, Balthazar, Dehd, Cassandra Jenkins, and Bess Atwell.

Other headline sets across the two weekends in August will come from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Tame Impala, Kraftwerk, The Chemical Brothers, Disclosure and Gorillaz. A truly mouthwatering array of global talent that I’m sure anyone will be able to find something or someone they like in. You can grab your tickets here.

The festival is returning for its seventh year, to Hyde Park, between the 5th of July and the 14th of July 2019. The event will see music lovers enjoy performances from the biggest names out there today to handpicked rising-stars from the heart of the nations capitol. Tickets will go on sale, on Friday the 29th of March 2019, at 9am, with general admission tickets starting at £69.95.

Speaking about his performance, and what can be expected, Stevie, said: “We’re living in a time where there’s so much is going on in the world. But the one thing that we know for sure that we can celebrate is life, love and music. I’m very thankful that you all have been so wonderful to me, giving me your life and allowing me to share my music with you since I was 11 years old, which was just a little ago. So, we’re just going to play and have fun.”

NEWSFLASH: @StevieWonder headlines Saturday 6 July with VERY special guest @LionelRichie for one epic Song Party!
Barclaycard pre-sale starts NOW: https://t.co/tKaWuRK8t3
Our pre-sale starts 9am Thursday: https://t.co/2fxRPnQtwC
Tickets on sale 9am Friday

Get ready! pic.twitter.com/8L1PFchsmf

— BST Hyde Park (@BSTHydePark) March 26, 2019

Meanwhile, Senior Vice President of AEG Presents, James King, said: “There are headliners, great headliners, line ups, stellar line-ups and a thousand other adjectives we use but we will never find the one that correctly describes what will be happening in Hyde Park on Saturday July 6th. Stevie Wonder is singing his biggest hits for his very own Song Party and for good measure, and to our mutual amazement, joy and wonder, he is also bringing his good friend Lionel Richie. See you down the front.”

Mad Cool Festival is a huge Pop, Rock and Alternative music festival happening from the 11-13 July 2019, in Madrid, Spain. Despite only being founded in 2016, it is already one of Europe’s hottest, most eagerly anticipated events. The festival has already brought bona-fide rock megastars to the centre of Europe over the course of only 2 years. Next years event looks set to be even hotter, with the exciting announcement of two exciting bands.

The 1975 who are set to play, will release their hotly anticipated third album ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ this month, before their follow-up ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’ will be released next year, as part of their ‘Music For Cars’ era. The band who originate from Manchester, topped the UK Album Chart with their self entitled album The 1975 in 2013. In 2017 they won the highly acclaimed Brit Award for Best British Group.

They will be joined by The National, an American Rock Band heralding from Cincinnati, Ohio. Formed in 1999, The National achieved worldwide acclaim with their 2005 album entitled ‘Alligator’. In more recent years they have had hits with the album ‘Sleep Well’, which won the Grammy award for Best Alternative Music Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards in 2017.

The National revealed they were ‘beyond the halfway point’ with progress on their next album, driven by a certain “looseness” and “an energy that’s evaded us in the past” said guitarist Bryce Dessner.

Next years Spanish Mad Cool Festival is expected to be even bigger than previous years, attracting over 80,000 fans per day, with greater investment in sound equipment and quality, and almost guaranteed sunshine. Next years event with such a mega-star line-up is not to be missed.

Other acts to be announced were British 1970s rock legends The Cure, with legendary tracks such as Friday Im in Love, and Just Like Heaven. Also confirmed were the 1990s post rock Scottish based band Mogwai. Formed in 1995 Mogwai had success both in the UK and USA, reaching no.23 in the UK Albums Chart with their album Rock Action in 2001, as well as reaching No.13 on the Billboard Independent Album Chart, with Happy Songs for Happy people in 2003.
Tickets are available for the event online at Mad Cool Festival 2019 11-13th July Espacio Mad Cool, Valdebebas-Ifema, Madrid, Spain

Other acts confirmed include; The Cure, Vampire Weekend, Mogwai, Bon Iver, Milk Teeth, Tash Sultana, The Snuts, Vetusta Morla, La Dispute, Alma, Rews, Carpenter Brut and many more to be confirmed.

The residency will be held at Hammersmith’s famous Eventim Appollo- which recently hosted the annual Mercury Prize, seeing Sampha taking home the coveted prize. Justin Vernon and co. will be playing on February 21, 22, 25, and 26.

Very happy to announce new shows in London! pic.twitter.com/tH6IlIEetB

— Bon Iver (@boniver) September 25, 2017

In a post on the band’s official Twitter, Bon Iver confirmed that those who had tickets for the previously cancelled date at Camden’s Roundhouse in February 2017 will be able to get tickets from this Wednesday, as opposed to when tickets go on general sale on October 3.

The band themselves are currently still partaking in a European tour, which sees them playing Blackpool’s Opera House tonight, before heading further North for two dates at Edinburgh’s Playhouse, on September 27, and 28, respectively.

At a gig in Cork, Ireland earlier this month, Vernon was joined onstage by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, who performed ’33 ‘GOD”, and ‘The Wolves (Act I and II)’ with the band. Irish folk singer Fionn Regan also made an appearance, for a rendition of ‘00000 Million’, as well as his own track’Abacus. You can see the full set below.

Vernon has since returned the favour to the national, appearing onstage with the band-who recently released their seventh album Sleep Well Beast, to much acclaim.

In an official statement, director Casey Reas provided insight into the conceptual nature of the psychedelic and distant music video which he described as:

“A dream about memory and the degradation of memory. It’s about distance in time and space. Time moves forward, but then backward as memory. The image of the two-faced Roman god Janus, who can look into the past and future, is the core visual language.”

In celebration of their new album, The National will be hosting a live-music event in New York on July 14th and 15th. The collaborative concert will be performed in the round and will feature various collaborative performances with the likes of Buke & Gase and Nadia Sirota. 700 tickets will be made available for each night, with a percentage of sales benefiting the venue of the event. Each guest will receive a limited edition Guilty Party 7-inch double split. Tickets can be purchased here.

The LP, due for release on September 8th, consists of 12 tracks and was produced in New York by Aaron Dessner with co-production from band-mates Bryce Dessner and Matt Berninger. Initial single releases for the project, including the political anthem The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness, have been met with critical acclaim with NPR stating that “Sleep Well Beast, is shaping up to be the best album the band has done”. The album will mark the band’s first full-release in four years with an accompanying European and North American tour scheduled to begin in September. Full European dates for the tour can be viewed below:

08/12 – Copenhagen, DK @ HAVEN Festival

09/16 – Cork, IE @ Cork Opera House/Sounds From a Safe Harbour

09/17 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street

09/18 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street

09/20 – Edinburgh, UK @ Usher Hall

09/21 – Edinburgh, UK @ Usher Hall

09/22 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo

09/23 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo

09/25 – London, UK @ Eventim Hammersmith Apollo

09/26 – London, UK @ Eventim Hammersmith Apollo

09/27 – London, UK @ Eventim Hammersmith Apollo

09/28 – London, UK @ Eventim Hammersmith Apollo

10/14 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre

10/21 – Hamburg, DE @ Elphilharmonie

10/23 – Berlin, DE @ Tempodrom

10/24 – Berlin, DE @ Tempodrom

10/25 – Amsterdam, NL @ AFAS Live

10/28 – Lisbon, PT @ Coliseum

10/30 – Brussels, BE @ Bozar

10/31 – Brussels, BE @ Bozar

11/02 – Paris, FR @ Pitchfork Music Festival Paris

11/04 – Stockholm, SE @ Annexet

11/05 – Stockholm, SE @ Annexet

11/06 – Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene

11/07 – Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene

Pre-orders of the album, including a limited indie exclusive 2xLP blue vinyl, can be pre-ordered from 4AD here.

In an interview given to NPR, Stevens discussed his inspiration for the project and provided insight into the albums solar system-inspired soundscape. The project itself clocks in at 75-minutes long with Stevens explaining that such an ‘epic endeavour’ reflects the increasing expansiveness of the universe which is reflected within the album.

Sonically, the album mirrors it’s astrologically inspired concept with the use of ambient tones, analogue synthesisers and electronic string arrangements all contributing to the celestial but melodic nature of the project. Early reviews of the project have been somewhat mixed; The Guardian have referred the project as a firm staple within Steven’s catalogue which shares similarities with recent projects from bands such as Caribou, whereas DIY Magazine criticised the project for its overly vast scale and a lack of diversity across the album. The lead single from the project, ‘Mercury’, can be viewed below:

Meanwhile, the group have announced a series of limited tour dates in support of the project. The tour kicks off in Paris and will cover four dates throughout July; full dates can be seen below:

07-10 Paris, France – Philharmonie de Paris

07-18 Brooklyn, NY – Prospect Park

07-20 Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Forever Cemetery

07-21 Oakland, CA – Fox Theater

In other news, Bryce Dessner has continued his involvement with Eaux Claires music festival which has recently announced its 2017 line-up. The Wisconsin based festival, conceived by Dessner and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, will feature artists such as Tweedy, Paul Simon and Chance the Rapper which will mark its second year running since the project’s conception. Dessner will also be busy preparing the final touches to The National’s Sleep Well Beast which will be released on September 8^th by 4AD; the LP consists of 12 tracks and was produced in New York by Aaron Dessner with co-production from band-mates Bryce Dessner and Matt Berninger. The album will mark the band’s first full-release in four years with an accompanying European and North American tour scheduled to begin in September.