Hollow Hand – Your Own Adventure LP Curation Records

“The attitude of the album is definitely DIY,” says Max Kinghorn-Mills of Hollow Hand’s 3rd album. “About just doing everything yourself and not needing to rely on anyone. That’s the one thing I love about doing this: no one has any answers for you, you are your own boss and it’s your own adventure. It’s down to you.”

This independent spirit that propels the creative process is also one that gave birth to its title: Your Own Adventure. “The title is kind of a mantra to summarise my philosophy when writing and recording the album,” he says. “I grew up immersing myself in all kinds of Fantasy genres and I loved the choose your own adventure game-books of Joe Dever. Other kinds of books I was reading throughout the writing process pointed me towards a kind of ‘belief in the self’ – there’s no definitive, correct way to live this life.”

Despite the creative drive and singular determination behind the album, it’s also one that has welcomed some outside input. “I’m very excited to have some guests on the album as I admire each of these musicians so much,” says Kinghorn-Mills, referring to the input of Tim Smith (Midlake, Harp), Spencer Cullum, Holly Macve, Ryan Pollie and Oliver Newton, with the album being mixed by Chris Cohen in Los Angeles. “At some level it’s a bit nerve wracking [bringing in other people] because this is something that you spend so much time building up and making sure that all the pieces are correct,” he says. “Bringing people in can be like, ‘oh god is this going to work?’ I don’t really ever collaborate much but when I do it’s because I trust them.”