dollhouse — the self-produced debut album from New York City's Slow Fiction — frames identity as something both intimate and observed: a private world that's always, somehow, on display. An uneasy sense of play runs throughout its 11 tracks, where surveillance and introspection blur together to probe the line between who we are in private and who we become when we're seen; by others, via the internet, or by ourselves. "Who are you when no one's looking back or through," Julia Vassallo sings on opener "junior year," over a quizzical bass line and refracting guitars that build to catharsis. It's propulsive rock that encourages reflection.

Over five years, the five-piece's dynamic has evolved from natural friendship into a familial bond. Bassist Ryan Duffin and guitarists Paul Knepple and Joseph Skimmons now live together, while drummer Akiva Henig and vocalist Julia Vassallo are just a short walk away. "We are a family and we work on our music like that. Everyone is part of the organism," says Vassallo. That foundation of trust let dollhouse's songs be revisited and reshaped over time rather than locked in too early: "You have to live with the song a little bit," Duffin adds.

Rather than recreate the versions the songs had grown into live, the band chose to unlearn them, soundtracking writing sessions with muted classics like Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas. Recording began in August 2025 and was mixed by Sonny DiPerri (DIIV, Julie), the songs carried from a cramped Brooklyn rehearsal space to a snowy upstate retreat to an ocean-facing studio north of San Francisco. Drawing atmosphere from the likes of Yo La Tengo and Broken Social Scene, dollhouse resists fixed meaning — less a statement than a mirror, formed as much by the listener as by the band.