On the surface, at least, there wouldn’t seem to be very much for Matt Berninger to be sad about. The celebrated frontman of The National , 54, is chummy with Barack Obama. He takes meetings at the San Vicente Bungalows, (the trendy member’s club gets name-checked on his new solo album, Get Sunk ). And Taylor Swift is a friend and collaborator; he sang on “Coney Island” from Evermore back in 2020; she returned the favor appearing on The National’s 2023 song “The Alcott”.

But the downbeat title Get Sunk , plus several songs on the album, came to Berninger before he emerged from a deep depression several years ago — one so paralyzing, he worried he’d never perform again. Lately, however, the scruffy poet laureate of middle-aged melancholy has never been happier or more prolific,

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