Emperor X - Unified Field Clear Vinyl LP PREORDER

Chad Matheny has been writing, recording and performing music as Emperor X since 1998, operating in the space in-between indie rock and emo folk/punk unlike any other current artist. He grew up in Jacksonville, FL and now resides just outside of Berlin. His new album, Unified Field, due June 26, 2026 on Bar/None, was written and recorded mostly in Ukraine, and it’s his crowning achievement.

On Unified Field, (a title that’s a loose David Lynch / TM reference), Matheny’s songs straddle the line between the personal and political, which makes sense because the majority of this album was written and recorded while he was in Ukraine, since the war began. Matheny has been a longtime advocate for Ukraine, visiting the region multiple times, touring there in 2023 and housing refugees at his home in Germany. He explains how this all came to be and what it was like trying to create art in the middle of a warzone:

“Towards the end of 2025, I saw a news report about a train in Ukraine on one of the lines I used often when I was there being bombed, and it made me so mad. I knew that I had to finish this album there with the people I had come to call friends over the years. They need our support, they have really beautiful spaces and talented folks who are stuck & unable to leave.”

Chad R. Matheny has been releasing eccentric, lyrically-dense underground pop music since 1998, often under the name Emperor X. After training in physics, philosophy, and music composition, Matheny paused academic work and spent much of the past two decades crossing the world on buses and bullet trains to make music at locations ranging from a small but packed symphony hall in Portugal to an emtpy trade fair dome in northern Lebanon to literally-underground metal bars across Ukraine.  He often tours alone with a guitar and synth, but sometime shares bills with fellow travelers including Ratboys, The Hotelier, The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, Foxing, AJJ, The Front Bottoms, and Xiu Xiu.  He produced the new Brian Sella album Well I Mean, co-produced the Sub Pop album Bits by jangle punk legends Oxford Collapse alongside Eric Topalski of Don Caballero and Storm & Stress, and composed video soundtrack music for non-profit organizations including Planned Parenthood and SEIU. In 2011 and 2012, Matheny’s ambient work Keeling Curve was used in a multimedia installation by photographer Joel Sternfeld that was featured in a retrospective exhibition at Museum Folkwang.

PREORDER - will be available for pickup, or shipping, on June 26, 2026

Please note that preorders are subject to availability. In occasional cases, our suppliers may not be able to meet the demand and our orders may be capped. All preorders will be filled on a first-ordered, first-served basis. Oversold orders are subject to cancellation, and we will do our very best to notify you of any issues as early as possible.