Instagram story viewer> @thisisslowplay> Tagged

slowplay

@thisisslowplay

1.6K

followers

113

following

a change of pace

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

for your consideration @grammys 🙂‍↔️ ✨

3k

126

Medium Build, who is Nashville singer-songwriter Nick Carpenter, recently released his sixth album, 'King of Having Fun' out on @thisisslowplay – all big emotions and energy. His enthusiasm and songwriting muscle was pretty clear when Nick played an FUV Live concert for Marquee members at Chelsea Studios @chelseastudiosnyc — with a set that included "Last Time." Earlier this week, was in NYC on his fall North American tour (Boston tonight).

Watch videos and listen to @mediumbuild's session, hosted by Sam Sumpter @sam_sumpter, now at WFUV.org or via the "FUV Live Sessions" podcast at @spotify, @playmorepods, and @applepodcasts.

287

7

WILMA was inspired by the universal love saga we all dream about, that we hope for, but that also delves deep into the idiosyncrasies of ‘modern love.’ We are lovers with insecurities, struggling with acceptance of ourselves, sometimes sensing an ominous force, a feeling of cosmic darkness hovering about, waiting to sabotage it all. ‘Love’ in this album is never straightforward. It is a rainbow of missteps, of doubts, all the while balancing self-love with a brave courage to trust the object of our affections, WHOEVER the other person is, or they know themselves to be. We dare to believe that being open to others will not destroy us. Like a dystopian kind of romance, a tightrope-walking passion that thrives on the strange dichotomy of self- possession/self-awareness vs. spontaneity, of being truly in-the-moment, of transcending “the self”, essential to keeping romantic love alive.

—
Wilma by Daniele Luppi, featuring Michael Kiwanuka and Orion Sun.
Production, arrangements, instruments & mixing: Daniele Luppi Vocals: @michaelkiwanuka & @cloudgem  Recording: Daniele Luppi, Bastien Lozier & Jeff Peters Mastering: Stephen Marcussen
Recorded at Les Studios Saint Germain, Paris; EastWest Studios, Los Angeles; and Studio Minerva, Los Angeles. Released via @ververecords and @thisisslowplay

168

12

si by @sparklmami a song made in the front yard is out now!

Produced and written by the Frontyardigans (me @williamcorduroy & @sparklmami )🌳

“thank you for showing me i am everything i need”

Art by @williamcorduroy

1k

34

“It Feels Like My Comeback to Myself”: Medium Build Makes Himself at Home on ‘King of Having Fun,’ a Celebration of Life on His Own Terms (@mediumbuild)
—
A decade into Medium Build, Nick Carpenter emerges from a period of upheaval with a clearer sense of who he is, what he wants, and how he hopes to inhabit the life he fought so hard to build. With his landmark sixth album, ‘King of Having Fun,’ Carpenter looks back on the defenses and approval-seeking that shaped so much of his life, reconnecting with the kid who once found joy in little things as he learns the difference between having fun and merely surviving – and, in the process, comes back to himself.
.
“King of Having Fun is a celebration that I’m alive. I survived. I got past the hot potato… This isn’t a comeback, but somehow, it feels like my comeback to myself.”
.
“I’m letting go. I’m letting God. I’m chilling. I’m having fun. I’m laughing. I’m taking the stairs. I’m eating more ice cream than ever. I’m maybe gonna sign up for a marathon – who knows? I don’t feel scared anymore.”
.
“You kind of have to kill old you to become new you. And there was just a lot of me that needed to die. I think it’s all documented on here.”
.
“Is your life worth approval from someone? Historically, for me, it has been. I have given people everything to approve of me. And now I’m giving myself the gift of approving myself so I don’t have to go seek it.”
.
“Every day, I have to hack into my own brain and re-download the program that says, ‘You have done enough.’ But if you leave me alone for 20 minutes and I find something shiny, I will recalibrate to my old way.”
.
“The king of having fun was me before I learned to mask and code-switch and posture.”
.
“Fun is not concerned with safety. Fun knows it’s safe. Survival is a chokehold on control and safety.”
.
“I just want people to feel free. As free as I feel right now. I want people to feel invited and good.”
.
“I’m not an icon. I’m just a guy doing my thing.”
.
..
…
✍️ @MitchMosk
🖼️ © @connorgrasso
📸 © @bethgarrabrant
🔥⁠ link in bio 🔥
...
..
.
#MediumBuild
#KingOfHavingFun
#music
#feature
#interview

58

2

• 8 great new records released this week• #newmusic #justdropped #newalbum
•••••••••••••••••••••••
MOVEMENTS • HAPPIER NOW

HANNAH COLE • SWITCHBACKS

MEDIUM BUILD • KING OF HAVING FUN

SOFT LOFT • THROW THE DICE

TOLD SLANT • WHAT’S UP

SOFIE ROYER • BEFORE/AFTER

HIEROGLYPHICS • ALL SAID AND DONE

FRATERNAL TWIN • HALO FELL FOREVER
•••••••••••••••••••••
• @ thisisnotaradio new releases show only on @stationhead •

• mondays 4pm pt/7pm et and on demand • A weekly list of 8 new albums released this week with album cover art and photographs and clips of songs from each record.

25

5

Medium Build, né Nick Carpenter, started his project in 2015 and has five studio albums behind him now. He’s drawn quite the roster of admirers along the way—John Mayer, Zach Bryan, Elton John and boygenius among them—and has toured with ROLE MODEL, Tyler Childers, FINNEAS, Holly Humberstone and Briston Maroney. Zane Lowe named him to his “Artists to Watch” list for 2024, and in 2025 he was nominated for Emerging Act of the Year at the 24th Americana Honors & Awards. His sixth album, King of Having Fun, arrives in September.

246

0

Wilma is somewhere between a memory and a film that was never made.

WILMA comes 10.9.2026

The first chapter begins today. To Some Degree, with Michael Kiwanuka, is out now.

130

10

@westsidecowboyyy taking #1 most-added at NACC yesterday with their debut record ‘It Goes On’ 🏇

Thank you to everyone who added! 🤠

3

1

In this Body#sparklmami#jazzfunk#realmusic#2026#ververecords

14

3

Fresh on the heels of his Madison Square Garden shows last week, Medium Build performed an intimate set on the beach in Rye, New York, and we had the honor of being there.

Big thanks to the 107.1 radio team for rolling out the red carpet for Cammy and I, and some of the KSC crew, we really appreciate it. And hats off to Aubrey Buggs for a killer opening set.

For the uninitiated (and shame on anyone who hasn’t heard him yet), Medium Build is, under the armor, Nick Carpenter.

Nick, your set last night was remarkable. Personal. Raw. Unscripted. Deeply affecting. And thanks for fielding our question about your sobriety journey.

Medium Build is an important voice in American music right now, and an uncommon one. If you haven’t seen him live, get it on the calendar. He’s back in New York on October 9th, and we will absolutely be there.

Thank you for what you’re putting out into the universe, Nick. Your message cut straight through our armor, and we feel you.

It was a real pleasure catching up after the show. We know a kindred spirit when we see one, and Nick, you qualify in every sense.

So we’ll see you down the road.

8

1

“I Hate Myself, So I Turn It Into Art”: Medium Build Rips Through Every Defense Mechanism on “Armor,” a Feverish Reckoning with the Terror of Being Known (@mediumbuild)
—
Medium Build’s Nick Carpenter barrels through intrusive thoughts and lifelong defense mechanisms on “Armor,” an exhilarating rush of panic and dark humor that transforms self-interrogation into a communal, cathartic, and all-consuming release. As the first glimpse of his sixth studio album ‘King of Having Fun,’ “Armor” sets the terms for a record that scrapes joy from the wreckage without pretending the wound has healed.
.
“‘Armor’ is the first song I knew was on the album. The most transparent look into my no filter stream of consciousness. The lyrics and the music pair up to imprint the feeling of unease and awareness that comes with being alive nowadays. If you listen to the lyrics there’s a lot to chew on, if you just vibe the music there’s a lot to bop to. Hope it leaves you better than it found you.”
.
“This entire album has some of my favorite, proudest lyrics. But this song is just so what it’s like being in my head some days: Endless, run-on, intrusive thought. It literally reads like a conversation with yourself.”
.
“The armor, what I’m talking about is humor, all the defense mechanisms that I’ve used my whole life. I’ll use being agreeable as an armory of one to protect myself from people knowing me… But now my armor is trying to remember that nothing matters, and it’s not that serious. If it flops, I can still go home and make a good sandwich and live in a house.”
.
“We’re never in control. The idea that we’re in control is the illusion. And that’s why people freak out. You see people break down because they think they have it. My big acceptance of this era is I don’t have it, and I’m excited and happy to be on the ride as long as I can.”
.
..
…
✍️ @MitchMosk
📸 © @bethgarrabrant
🔥⁠ link in bio 🔥
...
..
.
@thisisslowplay
@islandrecords
#MediumBuild
#Armor
#music
#KingOfHavingFun
#feature

1k

9