SPOTLIGHT: Slow Hollows’ Confident and Defining Return to Music with New Album ‘Bullhead’
BULLHEAD IS, IN A WAY, A CHARACTER STUDY — The newest record from Slow Hollows, also known as Austin Feinstein, is finally out in the world after four years of a breakup-marked hiatus. The album reintroduces Slow Hollows into the world as an entity where less is more, leaving Feinstein’s nerves exposed and words more honest than ever.
“I think all the songs are about the same thing,” Feinstein says when asked about Bullhead. “Being stuck or being stubborn or wanting to feel something else and not feel trapped by factors.”
In the album, Feinstein explores being stuck in your old ways, stuck in a time loop with a lover, stuck in your body unchanging. Even as a self-identified “bullhead,” stubborn and traditional, by no means is Feinstein complicit. He strong arms his way through change, knowing that there are brighter days than his past.
Past Slow Hollows records felt both intimate and at arms length, as though Feinstein was one step away from the height of his voice, leaving his fans wondering what was to come. With each record — Atelephobia (2015), Romantic (2016), and Actors (2019) — came a new development in the band’s journey. They left behind their lo-fi riffs for dreamy saxophone, then left the saxophone for electronic compositions. It’s not until the release of Bullhead that I understand why Feinstein no longer looks over his shoulder — because he’s not there. Feinstein is here, right now, and he’s ready for you to hear what he’s created.
Bullhead blossoms in its simplicity. Coming in at a runtime just short of 30 minutes, every song has something important to say. Each track takes its time and bursts with human life. Feinstein is a perfectionist, pensive and romantic, clenching his fists in order to let go. The record opens listeners to his psyche, but it’s also a testament of the art Feinstein is capable of making — Bullhead is Slow Hollows at their finest.
Feinstein took a journey to solve his inspiration after falling out of interest with guitar music during his hiatus. Despite spending time writing songs, he had to dig into himself to find the missing pieces that made this album possible.
“I think it took a long time because I needed to find that drive inside of myself again to do it,” he explains. “I [was] always writing songs and [was] happy doing that, but it took me a second to accept that I should just do the band again and make a proper record. I need to really feel like what I'm doing is worthwhile and it's hard to muster up that energy. It took a second to really see the vision.”
Feinstein shares a lot of qualities with Bullhead: when he speaks, he is succinct, cerebral, and sensitive, and so are his songs. The singer-songwriter wrote each one alone, meditated on them for years, then took them to the studio and meddled with them again. Just as the tracks themselves are bare-boned, Feinstein’s approach also seems stripped down: What is constant in himself? What is essential? What is his voice, and how can he project it?
“I think [Slow Hollows] is an outlet for me to practice songwriting and honing what my voice might be in the music landscape,” he says. “It’s kind of a vessel, but [to] try some shit out and boil it down to the purest… what the real thing is.”
Humanistically, it always comes down to family, childhood, and lovers. “I'm always thinking about my family,” Feinstein adds. “Even if it's not necessarily blood, just close friends, you know. I'm always kind of interested in the experiences of people close to me, as silly as that sounds. I feel like I take a lot of inspiration from other people's stories and how it impacts me.”
Bullhead recalls the guitar music Feinstein loved in childhood, Modest Mouse and Neil Young being the height of his inspirations (you can’t listen to “Old Yeller” and “The Villain” without also recalling Elliot Smith and Radiohead). He mentions his girlfriend at every turn, not just in this interview but in our last and in others, and it’s clear how important her presence and inspiration drove the project to completion.
Slow Hollows is now complete with a lineup of Feinstein’s closest friends, including Nick Noneman, who produced the record, Nick Santana, and Nick Minor.
Now, the band will soon embark on their first US tour since 2020, starting in Santa Ana’s Constellation Room. Playing these songs live, Feinstein says, is what excites him most post-release. I ask Feinstein if creating Bullhead drew him any closer to finding his voice.
“I mean, I've been writing songs still, I'm trying to write another record right now,” he says. “It feels like I'm getting used to knowing when something is worthy… and taking it further, you know? It's also about not stopping. Always trying, and always staying open. I think we're getting a little bit closer.”
