The National's Matt Berninger and Menomena's Brent Knopf Announce New Album and Tour as EL VY

Photo by Deirdre O Callaghan

The National's Matt Berninger and Menomena/Ramona Falls' Brent Knopf have teamed up for a collaborative LP under the alias EL VY. (The name is "pronounced like a plural of Elvis; rhymes with 'hell pie'", according to a press release.) Their debut record Return to the Moon comes out October 30 via 4AD. Check out the lyric video for the title track below, along with the album tracklist and cover.

Berninger and Knopf will tour as EL VY later this year. Find the dates below as well.

In a press release, the two men discussed working with each other. "I never worried about sending Matt something unfinished," Knopf said. "He's able to imagine where it can go. He can grab the four bars that will become the core of the track and develop them into something amazing."

"This record is more autobiographical than anything else I’ve written, but the details aren’t true," said Berninger. "It’s written in the voices of a few invented characters, composites of different people—myself, my wife, and other people I was thinking about."

EL VY isn't the only new project featuring members of the National and Menomena. Earlier this year, Menomena's Danny Seim and Bryan Devendorf's teamed up in Pfarmers.

Return to the Moon:

01 Return to the Moon (Political Song for Didi Bloome to Sing, With Crescendo)
02 I'm the Man to Be
03 Paul Is Alive
04 Need A Friend
05 Silent Ivy Hotel
06 No Time to Crank the Sun
07 It's a Game
08 Sleepin' Light (ft. Ural Thomas)
09 Sad Case
10 Happiness, Missouri
11 Careless

EL VY:

EL VY:

11-02-03 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
11-04 Seattle, WA - Neumos
11-06 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
11-07 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
11-10 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
11-11 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
11-13 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
11-14 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
11-15 Boston, MA - The Sinclair
11-16 Montreal, Québec - Theatre Fairmount
11-17 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House
11-19 Chicago, IL - Metro
11-20 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom
11-21 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
12-01 Copenhagen, Denmark - Pumpehuse
12-02 Hamburg, Germany - Knust
12-03 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
12-04 Cologne, Germany - Kantine
12-06 Berlin, Germany - Astra
12-07 Brussels, Belgium - AB
12-08 Paris, France - Trabendo
12-10 London, England - Electric Ballroom
12-12 Manchester, England - Gorilla
12-13 Dublin, Ireland - Whelans

Watch the National on Pitchfork.tv's "Over/Under":

via Molly Beauchemin and Evan Minsker