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.
Berninger and Knopf will tour as EL VY later this year.
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.