Slow Joy Brings Debut Album A Joy So Slow At Times I Don’t Think It’s Coming to The Observatory North Park
San Diego fans are in for an unforgettable night when Dallas-based, New Mexican-born artist Esteban Flores, better known as Slow Joy, takes the stage at The Observatory SD on October 9th.
Over the past year, Slow Joy has been steadily carving out a space in the alternative music landscape. Last fall, he joined Real Friends, Can’t Swim, and Carly Cosgrove on their tongue-in-cheek “Forever And Ever and Ever And Ever And Ever And Ever And Ever Tour,” a massive two-month run that brought him to nearly every major city across the country. This spring, he returned to the road, this time on his own terms, with a headlining tour that marked a pivotal moment in his artistic journey.
At the heart of this momentum is his powerful debut, A Joy So Slow At Times I Don’t Think It’s Coming. The record introduces Flores as one of alternative music’s most vital new voices, weaving together themes of grief, identity, and resilience while centering his perspective as a Mexican-American artist. It’s a deeply personal project, but one that resonates universally with listeners navigating the highs and lows of life.
Slow Joy Tour Flyer
“A Joy So Slow At Times I Don’t Think It’s Coming is my first album in my entire life,” Flores explains. “It’s a celebration of the complexities of life, drawing from all the colors of emotion. From ecstatic to disparaging, from lighthearted to dark, the album is everything I wanted my debut to be. It’s meant to be listened to from start to finish and take you on a journey through the stories of life, love, and grief.”
That emotional honesty, paired with Flores’s ability to blend soaring melodies with cathartic instrumentals, has quickly made Slow Joy a standout in today’s alternative scene. His live shows carry that same duality — raw vulnerability wrapped in walls of sound; creating the kind of communal experience that lingers long after the final note.
With his biggest San Diego headline show yet on the horizon, Slow Joy is set to deliver a performance that is both intimate and larger-than-life, the kind of night where fans might see their own stories reflected in his.
