INTRODUCING: SLOW FICTION

For a band that has steadily become one of New York's most exciting guitar acts, Slow Fiction have never been interested in easy answers. Their debut album dollhouse is an introspective, often disarming exploration of identity, examining the uneasy divide between the people we are in private and the versions of ourselves we present to the world. Anchored by the expansive new single "satellite", the record also turns its gaze outward, questioning empathy, community and the growing disconnect of modern life.

Rather than treating dollhouse as a fixed statement, the band approached it as a constantly evolving body of work, allowing songs to shift shape throughout the writing and recording process. Built on a creative dynamic that places every member on equal footing, the album captures a group embracing uncertainty, trusting instinct and finding clarity through collaboration.

Ahead of the album's release on August 7, we caught up with vocalist Julia Vassallo to discuss the blurred line between performance and authenticity, why "satellite" became a reflection of today's increasingly polarised world, the freedom that comes from treating songs as living things, and why Slow Fiction are already looking towards what's next.

1. dollhouse explores the tension between our private selves and the versions of ourselves that exist online or under observation. Was there a particular moment or experience that sparked the album's central theme?

I think as performers, putting yourself on display in that capacity will naturally create tension between the private versus public self. But something I recognized specifically within myself was how similar performing onstage felt to a lot of social interactions I was finding myself in. This unconscious masking of my authenticity to appease others or make situations more comfortable, it became more comfortable than having to be honest. A lot of the songs reference nights out or experiences where I don’t understand why I’m feeling so uncomfortable, but that is just the human experience after all. I feel like we don’t talk about it, which divides us, and if we did, maybe the mask wouldn’t feel so isolating.

2. The new single "satellite" tackles ideas of empathy, division and community in an increasingly polarised world. Do you feel artists have a responsibility to engage with these issues, or is it more about reflecting what you're seeing around you?

An artist having a responsibility is an interesting point. I think human beings should care about other people because it’s the right thing to do. It can be pretty evident when artists and other people don’t practice what they preach. The posturing is exhausting if nothing actually comes from it. Looking around the community you live in and becoming active there, or being receptive to learning is the best. Reposting & all that can be informative for sure, but we can do more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVz6htW-tC8

3. You've described Slow Fiction as a family as much as a band. How has that close-knit dynamic shaped the songwriting and recording process on dollhouse, particularly when everyone has a voice in the creative direction?

The song is alive all the way through the very end of the recording process. One of my favorite memories from recording was when we were working on the last song on the record. A couple of the guys had mentioned maybe trying something different in the bridge section, and I’d been super stumped on what to do. One of the last days of recording vocals, after showing something I’d written to the guys, we tried it out, and it just landed perfectly. Having people you seriously love and trust allows you to fail and fail better and then have little moments of success like that. The fluidity of the music and knowing things aren’t under one person’s ownership is the bedrock of why we all want to make art together.

4. Many of these songs evolved on stage before being recorded, but you've said you deliberately chose not to recreate the live versions in the studio. What did you discover by unlearning those arrangements and starting again?

Well, I think live performance is an altogether different beast than recorded music. There are limitations to each art form, and to that extent should be treated almost as separate mediums. A few of the songs on the record we barely ever played live, if at all, and left it to the studio to really discover how to build their personalities. We discovered that you should always have a beginner’s mind.

5. Across the album there seems to be a recurring search for identity and self-understanding. After living with these songs for several years and finally completing dollhouse, what have you learned about yourselves as musicians and as people?

The majority of the songs were written and recorded and mixed all between January 2025-2026. Then there were probably 2 from before then that made it into this record. We’re not super interested in living with the same songs for years before recording and releasing them. If anything, we’ve learned we move pretty quickly, and in the interim of getting this record ready for release, we’ve been writing for the next album.