The Folk Implosion return with ‘Walk Thru Me’ after decades away

The Folk Implosion had an unlikely hit on their hands back in 1995, with the release of their song “Natural One.” It was an unlikely success because it’s not every day two guys who first met as pen pals would decide to record music together, let alone release a single that hits Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart.

Started by Lou Barlow of Sebadoh and songwriter John Davis, the goal was to take the music trends of the time and fuse them with the pair’s indie folk sensibilities. It led to four underrated albums before the band went on an indefinite hiatus in the early 2000s. During the pandemic, Barlow and Davis reconnected and started recording again together. Tour dates followed, and now we have a new album. It’s their first in over 20 years, called Walk Thru Me.

In this session, Barlow and Davis talk about what brought them back together, and they reflect on the slingshot that launched them into pop culture: “Natural One” and the soundtrack to Harmony Korine’s Kids.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.