Few can croon through a heartbreaking narrative quite like The National’s Matt Berninger can. Well-known for his bruised baritone and tender, honest lyricism, he’s brought an emotional moment to more than a few music fans; and now, he’s set to do the same for kids.
Pitchfork reports that Berninger has been made the narrator of a new children’s story designed specifically for iPhones and iPads. The interactive app, called Dragon Brush is based on a traditional Chinese folktale, following the story of “Bing-Wen, a young boy who loves to paint. When given a magical brush that makes drawings come to life, Bing-Wen must use his art and his wits to outsmart the greedy Emperor.”
The interactive program is from Small Planet, a Brooklyn-based team of award-winning developers, responsible for previous children’s apps like Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App! and the Toy Story Storybook Deluxe.
Dragon Brush also features a score by Berninger’s fellow bandmates, brothers Aaron and Byrce Dessner, who provide a plaintive guitar soundtrack while Berninger reads part of the story in his dulcet tones.
“The story has all my favourite things,” said The National frontman in a press release. “Waterfalls, magical dragons, and the sound of my own voice.”
Cheeky.
You can view a taster of the app, along with some of The National’s scoring and narration, below:
