Aaron Hemphill, formerly of Liars, has announced details of a new album under his Nonpareils moniker.
Spanning nine tracks, Rhetoric & Terror is his second album as Nonpareils, following 2018 debut Scented Pictures. The new record features vocals by his wife, Angelika Kaswalder, as well as woodwind from multi-instrumentalist Morgan Henderson.
In a statement, Hemphill said: “With Rhetoric & Terror, I wanted to start with emotions and feeling. I was playing with my kids, listening to Cocteau Twins, I have a wonderful partner, and it seemed very contrary to any sort of growth to sequester myself from this life in order to get into character as a musician. Instead, I tried to remove the boundaries between my creative life and my responsibilities and have it all be one fluid thing. All things at all times, and trust that this will guide my music rather than more intellectual concepts or limitations.”
The album takes its title from a chapter in Giorgio Agamben’s 1970 book The Man Without Content, where the writer describes the concepts of rhetoric and terror to describe two different types of writers: the rhetorician and the terrorist.
To mark the announcement of the new record, Hemphill has shared opening track ‘Opening Chord’, which you can listen to below.
Mute will release Rhetoric & Terror on September 20, 2024.
