The Berries

The Berries emerged from Seattle as Matt Berry’s jangling indie pop outlet, one that quietly incorporates country-rock and psychedelic touches. Across consecutive albums—the sturdy, melody-driven Start All Over Again in 2018 and the more expansive Berryland the following year—plus the 2021 odds-and-ends collection Throne of Ivory (Singles and B-Sides), Berry refined an approach built on warm vocal blends, gently nostalgic melodies, and vintage guitar textures, most often layering every part himself. With 2022’s High Flying Man he pursued a denser sonic palette, tracking alongside his touring musicians in a professional studio while addressing bleaker lyrical subjects.

Long associated with West Coast underground acts Happy Diving and Big Bite, Berry began steering toward gentler terrain, cutting home demos shaped by the country-leaning side of Neil Young and Gram Parsons as well as ’90s Brit-pop and power pop. Under the Berries moniker he quietly released a pair of cassette demos in 2017, then formally launched the project in 2018 with Start All Over Again, which he captured alone in his own studio. Berryland followed a year later on Run for Cover Records, again featuring Berry on nearly every instrument save for added flute and pedal steel. To promote the music he assembled a road lineup of bassist Lance Umble, drummer Dan Paul, and multi-instrumentalist Emma Danner on backing vocals. In between Berries activity he also toured as a sideman with Dark Tea and Angel Dust. Throne of Ivory gathered stray singles from the prior year together with alternate versions and outtakes from the Berryland sessions.

Seeking a fuller sound for the third album that would suit its themes of global unease, Berry moved the sessions out of his house and into Kingsize Sound Labs in Los Angeles—his new hometown—where he, Umble, Paul, Danner, and additional players spent nine days with co-producer Todd Berndt and engineer Jimmy Dixon. Rob Schnapf, previously at the console for Beck, Kurt Vile, and Guided by Voices, handled mixing, and Run for Cover issued High Flying Man in August 2022.