This year marks the 10th anniversary of The Love Language’s long-out-of-print debut album, so we’re going to celebrate the hell out of it! Our Peak Vinyl reissue of The Love Language, out July 12, is pressed on opaque yellow vinyl and features updated art with spot gloss details and full lyrics printed on a heavyweight inner sleeve. It also comes with a download of the album plus four digital bonus tracks including radio sessions and rare outtakes from 2009. To keep the celebrations going, frontman Stu McLamb has rounded up the original band for a pair of summer shows celebrating a decade of The Love Language. Pre-order today.

McLamb reflects on ten years of The Love Language and its eponymous debut:

On The Love Language’s most recent tour opening for Teenage Fanclub, we played for lots of fresh ears, many of whom came to the merch table after the show and asked, “If you had to pick one, which of your albums is your favorite?” That’s a very tough question, like trying to pick a favorite child. While it’s hard to call it “best,” it’s impossible to deny that our self-titled record is and will always be the most sentimental to me. It’s where it all started. A collection of “demos” posted every couple months on Myspace between 2007 and 2008 until we were signed to our first label, Portland, Oregon’s Bladen County Records, who compiled them all as a full LP in 2009. The songs came effortlessly, and each one was recorded by a mobile multitrack recorder in various rooms (storage spaces, the back office of a record store, living rooms) throughout North Carolina literal hours after it was conceived. There’s a freshness and vitality to these songs that I hope, but don’t expect, to recapture again. It’s the sound of a songwriter discovering his voice in real time. The record has been out of print on vinyl for a few years now, and I’m excited to reissue it with some slight updates with my friends at Merge Records!

To help you complete your collection of The Love Language’s releases, we’ve put the band’s other albums (Baby Grand, Ruby Red, Libraries, and Black Mt. Demos) on sale at a 25% discount for one week only, with vinyl copies signed by Stu while supplies last. Act now!

The Love Language on tour:
Jul 05 Wilmington, NC – Bourgie Nights
Jul 12 Carrboro, NC – Cat's Cradle

photo: Michael Triplett