The Folk Implosion - One Part Lullaby

 

The Folk Implosion – One Part Lullaby

By

Jesse E. Mullen

 

The city of Los Angeles has a strange effect on artists. The ghosts of it’s past haunting the works of its current residents. Trent Reznor lived at the former house of Sharon Tate while making Nine Inch Nails’ masterpiece The Downward Spiral but moved out after being thoroughly frightened by its gruesome past.

Lou Barlow understands this as well. After making noisy indie rock with Sebadoh for six years, he decided to give bedroom electronica a try. So, he moved west, partnered up with John Davis, and together they recorded tracks for the movie Kids. Thus, The Folk Implosion was born.

But no one could’ve predicted how well it would turn out. Barlow penned the trip-hop pastiche “Natural One” for the soundtrack. It combined acoustic guitars, electronic beats, and groovy bass. The clean yet underground sound was not unlike the territory Beck was mining at the time.

The track was the most successful thing Barlow had done to date. It peaked at no. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and no. four on the Modern Rock charts.

The Folk Implosion followed this up with another album, Dare to Be Surprised in 1997. However, this one was much more indie rock oriented. And while it was very good – great at times – it didn’t have the unique qualities of “Natural One.”

So, Barlow and Davis did what any band with ambitions and commercial potential would do in the late 90s. They signed to a major label. In fact, they signed to the same major label – Interscope Records – which put out the aforementioned Nine Inch Nails record.

Questions about the band still remained, however. Could Barlow and Davis recapture the glory of the Kids soundtrack? And could they go even higher commercially? Both questions would be answered very soon. One Part Lullaby was released in September of 1999. It was a return to the trip-hop sounds of “Natural One.” But how did it compare?

The album starts where Kids left off with “My Ritual.” With its trip-hop beat and smooth vocal from Barlow, it’s almost a carbon copy of “Natural One.” While this might hurt it as a standalone track, it works within the context of the album.

Barlow seems overwhelmed by the expanse of his new city. He says – rather ambiguously – he’s “had too much to feel tonight.” It could be interpersonal related, or it could be chemically inspired.

“Free To Go” is perhaps the most upbeat and catchy song on the album. Barlow sings of growing up in relation to key events in his life – playing baseball in the backyard, learning how to drive. It’s a song of losing patience with the growing process, but it’s also joyous at the same time.

Musically, it’s mid-tempo pop rock with only slight electronic flourishes. It’s a slightly adult contemporary sound Barlow would later embrace in 2005 on his debut solo album Emoh. But it fits just as well here.

The title track is an electro-pop lullaby that almost reads like an ingredients list. “One part lullaby, two parts fear/Another animal mixing with the atmosphere.” Barlow seems to be describing his day-to-day “struggles to survive” in an eerie, detached way. It’s an oddly effective tool.

On “Chained To The Moon,” Barlow sings about “filling [his] lungs with the sky.” Musically, it’s a trippy mix of folk, hip hop, and gospel – with a choir harmonizing over a backwards beat. The chorus describes feeling trapped, but the dreamy quality to the music suggests Barlow doesn’t really mind.

The specter of Los Angles is explicitly addressed on “EZ LA.” A downtempo, downbeat electropop tune, Barlow’s lyrics ironically describe “another beautiful day.” It’s almost as if Barlow is bored with the weather or he feels unsettled by his surroundings.

Barlow later revealed to Marc Maron that he struggled with meth addiction during this period, which demystifies some of the darker lyrics. But only Barlow knows the depths of his struggles, giving the album a murky, ghostly quality.

Oftentimes, an artistic reinvention is a misguided attempt at staying relevant. But sometimes, it can bring an artist to new creative heights. In the case of The Folk Implosion, the latter was true. Lou Barlow may be known as an innovator of indie rock, but his fusion of acoustic guitars and trip-hop beats on One Part Lullaby is where he peaked.

Interscope Records/1999