Emergency & I is the third studio album by American indie rock band The Dismemberment Plan, released in 1999 by DeSoto Records. It was produced by J. Robbins and Chad Clark. At its release, the album was met with critical acclaim. Barsuk Records reissued Emergency & I in vinyl format on January 11, 2011. Recording In 1998, The Dismemberment Plan signed a record deal with Interscope Records. Emergency & I was recorded during the band's time with Interscope and was meant to be the first of the two albums they would record with the label. Using the money from Interscope, the album was recorded at Water Music Studios in Hoboken, New Jersey. Some songs went through different stages during recording. "Spider in the Snow" was originally going to have real strings. However, Travis Morrison thought that using strings was "too fancy" and decided to use Casio keyboards instead. "What Do You Want Me to Say?" was originally going to have turntable scratching, but the plan was scrapped after producer Chad Clark thought using samples was kitsch. Chad Clark also originally did not want "You Are Invited" to be on Emergency & I, finding the song too sentimental. Lyrical themes PopMatters Zachary Houle noted that the album had themes of growing pains experienced by people in their 20s. Jeremy D. Larson of Consequence noted the influence of Stephen Malkmus on the album's lyrics. Paul Thompson of Pitchfork related the album title to the encroaching chaos of modern life with the self. With regards to individual songs, the track "Back and Forth" is based on Bob Dylan's "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)". "You Are Invited", a song about an anonymous invitation that comes through the mail, deals with belonging and selflessness. "The City" deals with Morrison's loneliness living in a city, his longing for a wanderlust lover, and his inability to leave the city without abandoning everything that makes him who he is. Zachary Houle argued that songs such as "Memory Machine" and "What Do You Want Me to Say?" deal with themes of disconnectedness in the information age, including predicting the social media phenomenon that would be prominent in the following decade. Release When Geffen Records and A&M Records merged into Interscope in 1999, Universal Music Group announced that they would cut numerous artists from Interscope. The Dismemberment Plan were one of the artists affected by the cut. In turn,