“Where most bedroom recorded albums rely on gentle sentiments and lofi charm, ‘HILLSBORO’ rejects this for unashamed maximalism. The album embraces the melodrama of 90’s emo and grungy pop, carving out a space for a band that thrives on extremes.
Over the course of a turbulent three years, frontman Nima Walker would assemble a growing collection of journal entries and drum machine-laden demos, the second of which were auditioned to the band in various configurations. The ones that stuck had nonsense melodies sung over them while the group developed an arrangement. The entire album was recorded instrumentally before cut-up lyrics were finally decided. Sonically the band functions as a tight unit, doing away with traditional guitar heroics in favor of ethereal fiddle melodies. This concise composition leaves room for Walker and drummer Oliver Holingshead’s textured production to envelop their recordings.
Hillsboro’s widescreen DIY approach is an outlier against both indie apathy and sanitized pop-rock. The collective is committed to developing their world to the greatest extent possible, on their own terms. The quality of their recordings match those of veteran counterparts, and every part of their visual presentation is made to establish a new corner of both their identity and capacity.”
I am from time to time going through my bookmarks and sharing an album that I planned to write about but somehow did not manage to. This is one of them. Alternative-emo-indie rock back from Victoria, British Columbia has been recommended by my friend Sam who plays with them. I have shared a single Leaving from this album and I quite enjoyed it. This album is not an exception and it is a well crafted one with a lot of layers, sounds, and overall various moods that are so interesting. You have to listen to it from the start to the end and just full immerse into this emotional ride. You will not regret it.
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