Matt Berninger – “One More Second”

Chantal Anderson

Matt Berninger – “One More Second”

Chantal Anderson

It’s been nearly a year since Matt Berninger, handsome gentleman and frontman of the National, first started discussing plans for Serpentine Prison, his first-ever solo album. Berninger recorded the LP with Booker T. Jones, the legendary soul keyboardist. In the past few months, he’s shared the singles “Distant Axis” and “Serpentine Prison.” The album will finally come out in a few weeks, and Berninger has just shared another new track called “One More Second.”

Berninger co-wrote “One More Second” with Lost Lander frontman Matt Sheehy, a contributor to Berninger’s EL VY project. On the song’s YouTube description, Berninger writes that the idea was for “One More Second” to be “a kind of answer to Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You,’ or sort of the other side of that conversation. I just wanted to write one of those classic, simple, desperate love songs that sound great in your car.”

“One More Second” doesn’t have all the bombast of “I Will Always Love You” — any version of that song — but it’s an elegant acoustic jam with some great organ work from Jones. Berninger sings from the perspective of a fuckup trying to salvage his relationship: “Give me one more year to get back on track/ Give me one more life to win you back.” Listen below.

Serpentine Prison is out 10/2 on Book Records.

more from New Music