Matt Berninger – “Martini Me Fatso”

Publicly, Matt Berninger's been in solo mode for well over a year now between the rollout and the touring for his album Get Sunk. It seems he is not ready to shift out of that gear yet. The National frontman has a new solo single out today with an extremely memorable title.

"Martini Me Fatso" is not quite like anything Berninger has released before. His loopy side project EL VY might be the closest parallel, but that's not quite right. The song won't sound entirely foreign to National fans, but it swings, and the arrangement is closer to jazz-rock or bluesy adult contemporary than usual. The lyrics and vocal performance, though, are unmistakably Berninger. "Why would you promise her to me?" he sings on the chorus, quite catchily.

This one's a lot of fun, if mildly bewildering. Watch the video below.

"Martini Me Fatso" is out now on Concord.