Slow Joy’s full length LP dropped just this last weekend, and now that I’ve given it several full listen-throughs, I can tell you without a doubt, it’d be a contender as an AOTY nomination – for me anyways. Everyone is entitled to their own thoughts and opinions, of course. Since the announcement and little sneak peeks on tracks that’d be featured, I have been looking forward to this release for a while. 

This LP features THIRTEEN amazing tracks, each telling their story while highlighting Esteban’s (Slow Joy) gritty and melodious vocals, where he clearly makes sure to enunciate so thoughtfully in each line. He uses his own life experiences as a Mexican-American artist, offering insight on his journey in life through different periods of grief and resilience. The album’s artwork features the bull and a sugar skull, representing his heritage while simultaneously embodying the symbolic meaning of chaos and grief, which are key components within his music. This LP is a story going through life and the hard moments while still finding beauty within all the storms and despite the darkness. 

Slow Joy has such a gift in finding ways to reflect on life’s moments and showcasing it so beautifully in his music. I just love how his voice has both a grit and melodious feel to it, which pushes on the messages behind the whole LP on finding beauty in breakdowns. 

My favorite track on the LP is probably “Gruesome,” and I love contrasting pronunciations in the lyrics against the drum beats. Particularly on the lines, “I’m running in circles AGAIN, Are we taking wrong turns, OR DEAD ENDS,” and there’s like an echo-y effect on the italicized lyrics which emphasizes almost a déjà vu feel. Like okay, we’re running in circles, AGAIN, when do we stop repeating these feelings to get to where we want to be? Do we have to keep these patterns up TO FEEL? It’s a track that just stays on repeat for me because it’s such a banger!

Contrasting the overly catchy, repetitive sound, I also love the track “Do I Wear You Out.” This one has a softer, acoustic feel – almost solemn, kind of a heartbroken feel. It does read with the title off the bat as a sadder listen. This song does remind me of those voices in my head that tell me that I’m not worth it, and it’s a hauntingly beautiful song that, while sad in topic, is also supposed to provide beauty. Because despite the fact that we often feel one way, it is not the way someone else feels about us. In fact, asking for someone to stay or help is not a sign of weakness – it’s a sign of strength. I love the lyrics in this song that go, “Do I wear you out? Do I weigh you down? Would you stick around to find out?” To me, it reads that even as one feels like a burden, we think the other person is going to stick around to see if we are worth it – which is almost not always the case. Every day, we all battle with our own thoughts of self doubt, imposter syndrome, and often feel unworthy of someone else’s company. This song offers perspective from both sides in a way, and it’s just such a deep insight to how we as humans might often perceive ourselves. 

The differences these two tracks hold, but the way each song is so well integrated into one LP is breathtaking. This LP is everywhere now and you should give it a listen.

Photos by Carrie Bergan