Hollow Hand's New Album "Wish Road South" is out today
Friday, 4th September 2026
Max Kinghorn-Mills’ new Hollow Hand album "Wish Road South" is out now.
Since releasing 2023’s Your Own Adventure—which drew acclaim from the likes of Mojo, Uncut, and Shindig!—Kinghorn-Mills found himself collaborating with Caitlin Rose, Aoife Nessa Frances and supporting MJ Lenderman on a European tour. When Kinghorn-Mills came back he was bursting with a newfound creative zeal. “Seeing all these different types of bands play, it just made me reflect,” he says. “It makes you step up your game and it creates a feeling that you want to do better. I don't want to ever feel like I'm going through the motions so I decided to start again.”
Hollow Hand has always been a vehicle for Kinghorn-Mills’ songs, and it remains so, but having felt the spark and connectivity of being around more bands, he decided to change tack. “The way I've made albums previously has usually been huddled away in the tradition of a bedroom producer,” says Kinghorn-Mills. “But with this one I expanded my horizons and it made me realise there's so much more to playing, and being in a band, than just recording the songs.”
Along with Oliver Newton (drums) and Leo Clarke (bass) they got together in their new studio space in Brighton and tracked the songs live as a band. “With three of us being involved from the beginning, and all invested in it together, it feels like a group effort, which is a new thing for us,” Kinghorn-Mills says. “Our studio became really important as a creative space and, while it’s not Abbey Road, we were really able to up the production value.”
Kinghorn-Mills was living with members of the band Holiday Ghosts and exploring guitarist Sam Stacpoole’s record collection would find them listening to groups like The Clean, Violent Femmes and The Modern Lovers together. These influences, combined with his perennial love of 1970s folk-rock like Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, and Heron, plus a whiff of Coney Island Baby-era Lou Reed and some hard rock licks here and there, resulted in a distinct sonic palette for his sparkling new songs to be pushed through.
The album is littered with similar examples of Kinghorn-Mills’ hook-laden songcraft, which is boosted by a production that is rich, warm and engulfing. Clarence Clarity was brought on board to mix the album too. “We’re not in his usual wheelhouse as he works mainly in the hyperpop world,” Kinghorn-Mills explains. “But I was really excited to hand him the artistic freedom in mixing the album and he's brought something totally new, exciting and unique to the sound.”
The result is a record in which you can feel the fun coursing through it, as the zest of a reconfigured and tightly-knit group of musicians burns as brightly as the beautifully melodic and unique songs that they’ve carved out. “It feels closer to the goal of sounding like a band playing live than anything else I've made before,” says Kinghorn-Mills. “I guess I needed that difficult time to find myself because I feel completely rejuvenated after making this record.”
"Wish Road South" is available digitally and on CD & Vinyl, including two indie exclusive variants - Rough Trade Exclusive Dark Crystal Black on Clear Vinyl with fold out Tour Poster, and a Resident version with a signed print - Buy and stream "Wish Road South" here.
"With a subtle Wilco-shaped looseness and the fuller ensemble approach that defines Wish Road South, the Brighton songwriter makes expansion seem like a natural next step." - New Commute"There is a flash of ‘90s British alternative rock in that balance – the same gift Blur possessed for turning passing observations, emotional evasions, and ordinary English life into something slyly anthemic. Hollow Hand channel that spirit through a warmer, earthier lens." - Atwood Magazine
"Beautifully melodic and unique.. a contender for album of the year." - KLOF Mag