EL VY + Wye Oak

Singer Matt Berninger steps away from his main project with indie rock titans the National for a quick creative sojourn with Brent Knopf of Menomena. The quiet-storm-punctuated-by-polite-rage lyrics we've come to expect from Berninger packs an entirely new poignancy nestled within Knopf's playfully intricate keyboard arrangements, and it feels oh-so-heartachey. For more sad-sack indie rock stylings, Wye Oak enters for the opening slot with touches of folk that feel intimate but not small.