With Malkmus he developed the simple [[country-rock]] sound that characterized the early [[Lo-fi (music)|lo-fi]] recordings of both Pavement and Silver Jews. He worked extensively on his lyrics whose themes overlapped with his poetry, of which he only published [[Actual Air|one volume]]; his lyrics concerned many subjects, including besetment that culminated in attempting [[suicide]] in 2003. Afterward, he underwent [[Drug rehabilitation|rehabilitation]], engaged with Judaism and toured for the first time, but soon dissolved the band.
HeIn returnedhis to music in the mid-2010sreclusion, infurther responseturmoil toarose personalwhich problemspromoted thathim occurredreturning into his absencemusic; he adopted a [[Purple Mountains|new stage name]] and released an [[Purple Mountains (album)|eponymous album]] in July 2019, a month before he died by suicide. ''Purple Mountains'' was acclaimed by his dedicated following, whom Berman believed non-existent. He is regarded as a significant and influential [[indie rock]] cult figure.<ref name="Oxford">{{cite news |last1=Bengal |first1=Rebecca |title=Will the Real Mr. Heartache Please Stand Up and Cry? |url=https://oxfordamerican.org/magazine/issue-119-winter-2022/will-the-real-mr-heartache-please-stand-up-and-cry |access-date=7 April 2024 |issue=119 |publisher=Oxford American |date=13 December 2022}}</ref>
