Matt Berninger follows Get Sunk with Type It Up EP
Matt Berninger, frontman of American rock band The National, has released a new EP called Type It Up.
The collection arrived on Friday, 18 September as the follow-up to Get Sunk, his second solo album, Pitchfork reported. Berninger first flagged the date on Instagram on 15 September, writing that the EP would be out Friday. He then shared a pre-save link on 16 September before posting that it would land at midnight.
An EP, or extended play, is a release longer than a single but shorter than a full album. Type It Up runs to five main tracks, with an extra song reserved for vinyl buyers. The full list is “Martini Me Fatso,” “Type It Up,” “Ask for Water,” “Blue Monday,” “Who Loves the Sun,” and vinyl-only bonus track “Martini Me Fatso (Acoustic Live in Australia)”.
The EP keeps his recent single “Martini Me Fatso” alongside the title track. It also includes the new song “Ask for Water.” That song arrived with a video by Chris Sgroi.
Two cover versions complete the main set. The first is New Order’s “Blue Monday,” which Berninger had previously released as an Amazon Music Original track. The second is the Velvet Underground’s “Who Loves the Sun,” recorded with singer and songwriter Rosanne Cash. That collaboration first appeared on Sunny Nights, an Australian television show.
Berninger said the material grew out of the momentum and energy of the Get Sunk tour. The songs were played on the road before they were committed to record. His work with The National is as lead singer, while Get Sunk stands as his second album away from the group, as noted by Rolling Stone.
The title track has its own story. It began as “Black Letter Font.” Berninger said he rewrote the chorus after audiences kept mishearing the line “That would look good in a black letter font” as “I would look good in a black leather thong.”
For listeners, this means a short, self-contained sequel to Get Sunk rather than a long wait for another album. It gathers a single, two covers with earlier lives elsewhere, two new originals and a live acoustic version for record collectors. Berninger confirmed on Instagram on 17 September that the EP was out now.
