Lou Barlow Readies 'Emoh' 15th Anniversary Reissue

He'll play the album on a livestream later this afternoon

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Jun 16, 2020

This year marks the 15th anniversary of Lou Barlow's Emoh, his first solo release under his own name. To mark the occasion, the album will be reissued for the time on vinyl domestically.

Emoh will be reissued by Merge Records on July 31 as a double-LP in a gatefold jacket, with a bonus digital download of eight rare demos from the era.

At 4 p.m. ET today, Barlow will will perform the entire album and chat about the songs on Instagram Live from his home in Massachusetts. He offered some reflection on the effort in a press release as follows:

Emoh was released in January 2005, within a day or two of my first child, Hannelore, being born. I put my real name on it, and it felt like the beginning of a new, more confident era. At the same time, I was asked to rejoin Dinosaur Jr, so, instead of spending the next year touring in support of Emoh, I started a Dinosaur Jr reunion that continues to this day. It was a bittersweet decision because my LP was warmly received and seemed to point to a self-reliant future.

Though 
Emoh was a positive step forward for me, listening to it now, I realize the songs clearly track the slow dissolution of my first marriage, the fatal break of several partnerships, and my struggle to acclimate to living in L.A. That I was able to describe my decline in such detail then hand it out to friends and family members as my "comeback" LP kind of amazes me now.

Barlow recently finished recording a new album with Dinosaur JrEmoh's reissue is now available for pre-order.

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