Stereo Embers The Podcast 0202: Kip Berman (The Natvral, Pains Of Being Pure At Heart)

“The Cup Of Youth”

If Kip Berman’s name sounds familiar to you, that’s for good reason. He fronted the beloved indie rock outfit The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart from 2007 to 20018. The NY-based band played all over the world, put out four perfect albums, culminating in 2017’s The Echoes Of Pleasure and they called it a day a year later. Berman moved to Princeton, New Jersey, started a family and started a new band as well. Dubbed The Natvral, Berman’s new musical project finds him swinging with freewheeling abandon and grinding poetic grace. Falling somewhere between Blood On The Tracks and Ezra Furman’s Day Of The Dog, his debut album Tethers is one of the year’s very best. Filled with rootsy snarl and howling bliss, Tethers is nothing short of a revelation. In this chat, Berman talks to Alex about discovering Fairport Convention, worrying about his kids in the age of COVID and the recent death of DJ Sophie. They also talk about our relationship to the past, their mutual love of Roddy Frame and why it took moving to New Jersey to start listening to British folk rock.

https://thenatvral.bandcamp.com/album/tethers