Ari Herstand is a Minneapolis music junkie. “There was a period where I attended 4-5 local concerts a week for about 2 years,” he mentions. Herstand, who just returned from an East Coast Tour and a two week stint at Milwaukee’s Summerfest, is unmistakably proud of the city’s music scene from where he now calls home: “It’s the best music scene in the world!” Looking at the credits on Herstand’s second studio album and third release to date, Whispering Endearments, his love for the Minneapolis music scene is no secret. Front man and principle songwriter of This World Fair, Chris Kalgren, co-produced the album with Herstand while Minnesota based, Grammy nominated Paul Marino (Haley Bonar, Chris Koza, Desdamona, The New Congress, Ann Nesby) engineered. Many other Minneapolis artists also make appearances throughout the album. Herstand, who has opened for national artists such as Ben Folds, Cake, Sister Hazel, Soul Asylum, The Bodeans, Joshua Radin and Matt Nathanson, took an extended break from the road to record this new album. Whispering Endearments displays an incredible maturation from his first two releases. Spending nearly 6 months creating the new album, working with an investor instead of a record label and no time frame, Herstand created the record completely void of time, money and industry constraints. Meticulously working to find the perfect guitar and drum tones, arranging and rearranging instrumentations and challenging himself vocally, Herstand along with Kalgren and Marino worked until excellence was achieved for Whispering Endearments. The songs are filled with memorable hooks, but never cliché. The instrumentations are brilliantly arranged and the performances are at the highest quality of musicality. The blend of acoustic, rock, pop, folk, jazz and funk are all tied together by Herstand’s mature songwriting and passionately delicate and beautifully distinctive vocals. The album opens with a metaphorical, lost love “bell” anthem, rich with holiday imagery and sentiments, juxtaposed with helplessness and regretful loss. “One Bell” aptly sets the tone for the rest of the joyously, bittersweet album. The first single released off of Whispering Endearments, “Last Day,” deals with a carpe diem mantra while keeping it inquisitively personal: “If you knew this was our last kiss how would your lips move.” The rock and roll appearance of Joe Christenson (White Light Riot) on “Rose Stained Red” and the jazz/funk sax solo by Jason Parvey (Roster McCabe) on “Center of a Kiss” could easily give both songs a ‘party’ label, until the darker, lyrical content is fully explored: “A beautiful flower will whither and die / if the neighboring weeds choke the struggling cry / for food and life and peace and soul / a rose stained red deserves a little more” and on Center of Kiss, "A piece of a sentimental wish / sinks the calm, this hormonal driven bliss / and incandescent eyes stare at my grieving little smile / but we go and I know the treading in the water / I'll be drowning in the water / we say goodbye." In “Christian Dear,” Herstand’s voice – innocent, yet broken – along with the stripped instrumentation, divulge the helpless realization of falling for the wrong person for all the right reasons: “I’m a new man with a new plan / I’m taking my time like a kid in the sand / I have new tears and new fears / I’m falling in love with a Chrisitan Dear.” Herstand completely unveils his heart in “Your Eyes” where he replays the hesitant beginning and regretful destruction of a relationship. The song’s bridge brings a welcomed, emotional release accompanied with a delicate guitar solo by Zack Carroll. The tender, closing numbers – tied together with delicately subtle chimes – gently releases the listener from Whispering Endearments. Whispering Endearments was recorded at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota and was mastered by Greg Calbi (John Mayer, Norah Jones, Paul Simon) at Sterling Sound in New York.