'CRAWLING' - SLOW JOY
2022- The entire 2:44 track paints a convoluted emotional dichotomy: Vulnerable but guarded. A “reluctant but willing” feeling type peak into Flores’ very own grief. Hard-hitting, gut-punching heavy rock swirled in with soft melancholic vocals and tone. It’s downright poetic.
FULL REVIEW BELOW.
SLOW JOY. ALBUM ART OF AND BY ESTEBAN FLORES VIA INSTAGRAM 2022
I find myself scrolling through TikTok one night and my attention is immediately caught by a video with the sentence “Wrote this song for anyone who’s lost a loved one. You’re not alone” pasted across the top. It shows Esteban Flores, musically known by moniker, Slow Joy, performing a clip of single ‘Crawling’. The video was maybe 30 seconds long? But that’s all I needed; I was immediately hooked. “Well I have lost someone. Lots of someones actually, but who is this?!” I eagerly clicked around to get to their main page.
‘Crawling’ is its name.
Realizing after making my way through other videos that this single was available on Spotify, I wasted no time at all swiping through the apps on my phone to get to it. Laying there, some 1:30 in the morning I heard Crawling for the first time in its entirety. And then again. And again.
Crawling opens with refreshingly mellow guitar riff. Airy and melodic vocals enter soon after. The lofty words and tone begin to swirl within each other as the gentle climb explodes into a full fledged, frisson inducing gut-punch of grungy, heavy shoegazey goodness.
The hard-hitting tone suspends the vocal components in this track beautifully. There’s an emotional sensation of heart-strings unraveling- giving way to the more melancholic, emo elements of this track.
In a recent video posted to Flores’ Slow Joy TikTok account, he shares that this song was created in wake of his mother’s passing. “I was almost positive I was gonna quit doing music. It came from a place of healing, from a place of just processing through what that felt like.” He opens this video with “I realized that raw is probably better” referencing how he felt he should explain the story behind how Crawling came to be. However, “raw is probably better” should and can be said for Crawling altogether. Raw is better.
The lyrics in their entirely are shorter than most but painstakingly sweet.
I felt it
Crawling under my skin
Just before your exit
Filled your breath with poison
Good God, damn
Were you short on graces
I guess it was a blessing
I didn’t have to watch her fade away
I wish she could have stayed
I’ve got angels in other places watching over me.
The entire 2:44 track paints a convoluted emotional dichotomy: Vulnerable but guarded. A “reluctant but willing” feeling type peak into Flores’ very own grief. Hard-hitting, gut-punching heavy rock swirled in with soft melancholic vocals and tone. It’s downright poetic.
(cont. below)
SLOW JOY, 2022. IMAGE BY @CORDUROYCAMERA VIA INSTAGRAM
In speaking with Flores about the developmental aspects of the track he shares “I record everything by myself. Everything besides mixing and drums.” I was incredibly impressed by this revelation. With Crawling being so multi-layered, its complexity is a true testament to Flores’ skill and talent as a musician and writer. The tonal value and quality alone are enough to admire. Methodical reverb and distortion run heavy to give it a punctuated grungy sound. He goes on to add that he does perform with his two friends Rolando and Chris for live shows.
When asked who inspires him musically, Flores shares his great love for P.O.D. “Love Citizen, Kings of Leon, but also bands like Taking Back Sunday, Sunny Day Real Estate, Slow Pulp- the list is long.” Additionally, the internet seems to agree there is a lot of Deftones-esque sound within Crawling. I do agree. It’s there. I also feel, however, that the more melancholic and softer vocals throughout Slow Joy’s singles do create a departure from any one-genre, one-band inspired lane. Flores self-describes Slow Joy's sound as “Southwestern, Chicano-heavy, emo-gaze, Texas rock.”
And I think that hits the nail on the head.
Slow Joy seems to be hard at work creating soon-to-be released singles following the demand and success of Crawling. A gifted writer. A talented musician. There seems to be much to look forward to for Esteban Flores in Slow Joy.
Check out ‘Crawling’ on Spotify and other available streaming services. Find Slow Joy on TikTok @ilikeslowjoy and Instagram @slowjoyslowjoy for all the latest Slow Joy happenings, videos, content and more.
Listen here:
SLOW JOY, 2022. IMAGE COURTESY OF @SLOWJOYSLOWJOY, PHOTO BY MADI RAE
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