thèriot. - the Other. (2026)

Vermont composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist Kyle Saulnier is known for fusing the American songwriting tradition with modern orchestral techniques and the hard-driving energy of industrial rock. Critics have called his music lush and inventive, and one publication likened it to a Great American Songbook of another order. His compositions and orchestrations have been performed by the Metropole Orkest, the Westerlies, Osso String Quartet, Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and Salina Symphony. He was previously known as the leader of the Awakening Orchestra.

Saulnier now performs under the mononym thèriot., a gesture of respect toward his Acadian heritage and an acknowledgment that the artist he once was no longer matches the artist he is today. His new album, the Other., is deeply personal and unguarded. It deals with grief, depression, and the masks people wear while pretending everything is fine.

For the recording, thèriot. leads a hybrid ensemble. From New York come trumpeter Nadje Noordhuis (who has played with Maria Schneider and Darcy James Argue), Andrew Gutauskas (Brass Against, Miho Hazama), and Samuel Quiggins (the Heartstrings Project, American Pops). Vermont’s creative scene is represented by Michael Chorney (Hadestown, Freeway Clyde), Matthew LaRocca (Freeway Clyde, Vermont Symphony), Brooke Quiggins (Vermont Symphony, Osso String Quartet), Jane Boxall (Bad Smell, Saturn People’s Sound Collective), and Daniel Ryan (the Dan Ryan Express, Madaila).

Tracklist:
1. thèriot. - the Other, Pt. 1.
2. thèriot. - the darkest hour.
3. thèriot. - the Sweetest.
4. thèriot. - interlude: the Sound of Silence.
5. thèriot. - fathers and sons.
6. thèriot. - interlude: pas de deux.
7. thèriot. - the Other, Pt. 2.
8. thèriot. - I Know the End. (feat. Francesca Blanchard)