The Folk Implosion

“How the fuck are we going to turn this into a song?” That’s the question
Lou Barlow and John Davis have asked themselves since co-founding the Folk
Implosion in the early 1990s. Beginning with improvised jams featuring
Barlow on bass and Davis on drums, the duo develop their beat-driven pop
collages from the ground up. It’s the process they used on their debut
cassette, Walk Through This World with the Folk Implosion, and one they’ve
returned to 30 years later on their spellbinding, self-referencing
reunion, Walk Thru Me.

Separated from their homes in Massachusetts and North Carolina, Barlow and
Davis collaborated remotely, flashing back to their early friendship as
penpals. A sweaty bass and drums session went down in Barlow’s attic,
before they booked studio time with producer Scott Salter (St. Vincent,
Spoon, The Mountain Goats).

Contrasts and comparisons are the keys to unlocking Walk Thru Me, and the
Folk Implosion as a whole. Beyond the audible differences between Barlow’s
soft voice and Davis’s urgent, reedy proclamations, their approaches to
songwriting are strikingly distinct. While Barlow approached his lyrics
from a protective paternal perspective (“My Little Lamb”), Davis paid
tribute to his late father, shining a light on their complicated
relationship (“The Day You Died”).

Finally, Davis’s Persian music studies in weekly Zoom lessons inspired him
to integrate traditional Middle Eastern instruments such as the setar,
oud, saz, and tombak.

“Because we’re so separate, part of this album is me desperately trying to
telepathically communicate to John and Scott, who are 700 miles away from
me,” Barlow concludes. “A big part of what I consider to be the Folk
Implosion is taking disparate things and turning them into pop.”