Matt Berninger Explores Identity and Vulnerability on Second Solo Album Get Sunk
The fifth track on Matt Berninger's sophomore solo effort, Get Sunk, features a delicate collaboration with singer-songwriter Meg Duffy, known professionally as Hand Habits. Breaking Into Acting emerges as a fragile ballad where Berninger's signature plaintive baritone intertwines warmly with Duffy's vocals, accompanied by her inventive guitar work.
The Metaphor of Daily Masks
In a recent phone interview, the 54-year-old artist revealed the song's deeper meaning. "The metaphor is semi-well-contained in that one: the metaphor of putting on a mask that we all do every day," Berninger explained. This theme has become central to his recent period of self-reflection, following struggles with writer's block and depression.
Despite being the recognizable voice behind Cincinnati's The National since 1999, Berninger confessed to ongoing identity exploration. "I don't know who I am today. I didn't know who I was in my 20s, and 20 years from now, I won't know who I am then," he shared. "But I still go out into the world and present myself as Matt Berninger. We all do that."
The musician described the universal experience of adopting different personas throughout daily life. "I get up in the morning, and I have to be Breakfast Dad or whatever. Breaking Into Acting is not at all about Hollywood, or L.A. or acting or the theatrical arts; it's about what we do every day, presenting ourselves to the world."
Philosophical Songwriting Process
Berninger acknowledged the irony of discussing these themes while performing his professional role. "But here I am talking to you as the lead singer or a rock musician and I'm trying to talk about music, which is me playing the role of the interviewee," he added with a laugh. "As soon as I get off the phone, I'll be like 'I can finally be myself again.'"
Released in 2025, two years after The National's most recent album First Two Pages of Frankenstein, Get Sunk has been described as Berninger's most personal work to date. While his lyrics consistently explore themes of fear, desire, anxiety, hope, and meaning-seeking, this album ventures into particularly intimate territory.
Childhood Imagery and Autobiographical Elements
The songs on Get Sunk contain specific references to Indiana, where the Cincinnati-born artist spent childhood summers. Tracks like Frozen Oranges and Inland Ocean feature vivid imagery of bicycles, bugs, and train tracks, leading some critics to interpret the album as an autobiographical coming-of-age narrative. New Music Express even drew comparisons to Rob Reiner's classic 1986 film Stand By Me.
"I think I do that a little bit in everything I'm doing, thinking about why I am this way," Berninger reflected. "Obviously, I'm writing fantasies of the way I want my life to be, I'm writing fantasies of what I think my life is and what my life was."
The artist offered philosophical insight into memory and self-perception. "I think when you try to think about your past, it's just as much of a speculative abstraction as when you think about your future. They are both just stories you are telling yourself: What you want to be in the future or what you were in the past are all total abstractions. You can almost redefine your past the same way you can write your own future."
Through Get Sunk, Matt Berninger continues his exploration of human vulnerability, inviting listeners to consider the masks they wear while sharing his own journey toward authentic self-expression.
