The Love Language

Origin

The Love Language began after frontman Stuart McLamb's first band, The Capulets, broke up. Following a breakup with his girlfriend, McLamb went on a serious drinking binge and then retreated to his parents' house, where he began recording a series of emotional demos. These songs were originally intended to be heard only by McLamb's ex-girlfriend and a handful of friends, but the demos expanded into a full recording project.

Music

The Love Language's sound is a mix of bleeding-heart pop, lo-fi energy, and bubbly instrumentals.
McLamb's eponymous first album, The Love Language, received some critical praise when it was released under Bladen County Records. David Menconi of Spin magazine wrote, "McLamb's songs -- a mix of moody piano ballads and bouncy guitar rock -- are aching love letters to his ex that combine the emotional directness of Big Star with the raw immediacy of Guided by Voices." Recorded entirely by McLamb, the album caught the attention of fellow North Carolina rockers, The Rosebuds, who asked The Love Language to open for them. In order to play live, McLamb formed a band with Missy Thangs (keyboard), and his brother Jordan McLamb (drums).

The Love Language was then signed to Durham-based Merge Records and released their second album Libraries in July 2010. Unlike the first album, Libraries was recorded in a traditional studio with help from producer BJ Burton. Though Stuart wanted to keep the energy of the lo-fi sound, he noted of Libraries in an interview with Creative Loafing that "you've got a lot of raw emotion of the first record and vibrancy in spirit, but I lacked some of the engineering expertise for better or worse. On the second one, I did it in a studio with an engineer who I was able to work with very well. He made it an equally enjoyable process." Burton was also recruited to play guitar while touring along with Missy, Jordan, and Justin Rodermond (bass), an old friend of McLamb's.