Creative

Footer Legal

Main

NavBar

Sections

Topics

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

Register to continue

Talkhouse

As the frontman of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Kip Berman wrote songs about the thrills and ills of young adult life with the care and concern of a cool older sibling. The long-standing New York City indiepop group disbanded soon after releasing their final record, The Echo of Pleasure (2017), and Berman found himself at a creative crossroads. He wanted to keep making music, but the themes and sounds he was interested in had shifted; it felt time for a course correction.
Enter Tethers, Berman’s first solo record as The Natvral, which finds him coming to terms with the changes in his own life by observing those transformations in the people he’s known — a self-portrait in relief. In the time between making his last record with his former band, Berman’s life and location have shifted dramatically, as he welcomed a daughter, then a son, and moved from Brooklyn to Princeton. With his new identity as a parent came a crucial shift in how he approached music. Gone were the months in a cramped tour van and late nights rehearsing with his band in a windowless warehouse space. In its place were amorphous, suburban afternoons playing whimsical songs to two young children, while writing music for himself after their bedtime.
But in this time away from the life of a touring artist, Berman discovered an unvarnished, broken folk rock sound — a marked departure from his previous work.
(Photo Credit: Remy Holwick)

Kip Berman

Music

Richard Thompson Isn’t Just a Boomer Folk-Rock Guitar God

E# is a composer and multi-instrumentalist living in New York City. Besides writing music for Hilary Hahn, RadioSinfonie Frankfurt, JACK Quartet, and the Ensemble Modern, he performs solo and with his bands Terraplane, Carbon, and Aggregat. He has collaborated with Hubert Sumlin, Debbie Harry, Christian Marclay, and Bachir Attar and is the subject of the recent documentary Doing the Don&#8217;t.

Elliott Sharp

Elliott Sharp Talks Richard Thompson’s Electric

Richard Thompson