Track By Tracks: Slug Comparison - Cold In Cold Out (2026)

Track by Track (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY):

1. Tongue of the Hollow:

As I was writing this song, I realized early on that the verse riff was way too similar to Nirvana's “Something in the Way.” I could have abandoned the idea right there, but then I added a few chord changes (I lack Kurt's gift for writing a song with only two chords), so I decided to keep going and let it be an homage. I was huge into Nirvana for a few years, so it made sense that my appreciation was coming out this way. As far as lyrics, I had no idea what “Something in the Way” was about, and that freed me to fumble my way down a different path.

“Tongue of the Hollow” is about a bedridden apartment dweller who is nearing death and lives with a lot of cats. They don't understand why their owner is just lying there, unable to care for them, and they wonder where their next meal will come from. The dying man's solace, as he waits for the end, comes in the evenings when the upstairs neighbour paces the creaky floor and sings.

2. To Whom Would You Answer:

The turnaround from idea to master recording for this song set a personal record for me. About 18 months. It was born out of one of those semi-traumatic encounters where for the next few days you can't think about anything else, you run over and over in your mind what happened, what people said, what you should've said, what you shouldn't have said. The whole thing spirals. It keeps you from sleeping, and when you finally do sleep, it's right there when you wake. It was after two days of this that I sat down with my guitar and started playing the main riff to the song for the very first time. My mind cleared.

3. Back to the World:

This song is about running into an old friend who took a dark turn. Seeing them, you feel guilty for not having tried to keep in touch while they faced their demons. You realize their strength, and you realize they used to add something to your life that was essential for making you whole, something that's been gnawed away in their absence. Being with them gives you hope that you'll face your own demons down, smaller in stature, but growing each day, each year, that you don't deal with them.

4. Burden of Life:

n/a

5. Cold in Cold out:

I was sick of the kitchen-sink realism that pervaded my last album. I wanted to write something that was removed from the everyday, something grander in scope, and also desolate. “Cold in Cold out” is about the lonely trial of human existence: the physical pain, the exhaustion, the fleeting moments of wonder, and the recurring question—how long will this go on for?

6. No Healer:

This song is about someone who has reached the end of their journey. Fevered and facing death, all they can do is lie under the jungle canopy and wait, at the mercy of whatever powers now guide their existence.

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