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█ Hillsburn - Stories
█░
█▓ ------------------------------------------------------------------
│█▓
│██ Artist : Hillsburn
██ Album : Stories
██ Year : 2023
▓█
▓█ ------------------------------------------------------------------
│██
│██ Genre : Pop Quality : 780kbps avg/44.1kHz/2 channels
│██ Source : CDEP Size : 106.35Mb
│██ Encoder : FLAC 1.3.1 Language : English
:██ Cat. Nr : LHM061 Label : LHM Records
│██
│█▓ ------------------------------------------------------------------
│██
│▓█ Release date: 2023-10-31 Retail date: 2023-03-10
│██
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██
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1. Truths You Outrun 3:17 ██
2. Room Across The Hall 3:05 ██
3. Inside Out 3:36 ██
4. Stories 2:28 ██
5. I Knew The Times Weren't Perfect (But the Drugs 3:00 ██
Aren't Working) ██
6. Roslyn 2:33 ██
██
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██
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Total Runtime: 17:59 █▓
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██ ░▄
██│ The constant of change has, deliberately or not, been one of the
██│ driving forces of HalifaxÆs Hillsburn. From its early days as a
██│ harmony-heavy folk outfit to three albums spent evolving and expanding
██│ its full-band sound to its current iteration as an indie-pop
██│ four-piece, songcraft has been the steadfast centre of an
██│ often-shifting musical outlook. Its latest EP, Stories, is a
██│ culmination of growth and upheaval, movement and loss, the sound of
██│ something new being forged in the moment.
██│
██│ Paul Aarntzen, as the story now-famously goes, had given up on music
██│ and was living a quiet solitary life in Hillsburn, NS when in 2014 he
██│ suffered a health scare that pushed him back to the guitar. He began
██│ writing songs again, sharing them with people again, and found himself
██│ leading one of the hottest new bands in the country, making it to the
██│ Top 10 of CBCÆs Searchlight competition on the bandÆs first single,
██│ ôFarther In The Fire.ö He was the guiding force through the bandÆs
██│ debut EP, and its subsequent full-lengths, In The Battle Years (2016),
██│ and The Wilder Beyond (2018). After writing and recording the songs
██│ that comprise Slipping Awayùpandemic-delayed to 2021ùAarntzen decided
██│ heÆd had enough of the industry grind and walked away from the band he
██│ started. (Is that title prophecy or coincidence? YouÆd have to ask
██│ him.)
██│
██│ So what happens when the songwriterùalso the bandÆs guitar player,
██│ sound engineer, video director, and photographer, incidentallyùis no
██│ longer at the centre? You start moving parts around. Rosanna Burrill,
██│ HillsburnÆs dynamic vocalist and violinist, tossed her bow for a bass.
██│ Drummer Clare Macdonald learned to sing. Keyboard and soundscapist
██│ Jackson Fairfax-Perry added more effects to his already lavish pedal
██│ collection. And guitarist Clayton Burrill started writing songs.
██│
██│ The six tracks on Stories will certainly not scare off any existing
██│ Hillsburn fansùlike Aarntzen, Burrill has a knack for scenes set in
██│ nature, universal observations that connect on an intimate level,
██│ masterworks of literature (in this case, Fleetwood MacÆs Rumours), and
██│ highly shoutable refrains. On the opener ôTruths You Outrun,ö he
██│ recounts a lonely season spent ôtrying to mute my fear,ö before
██│ realizing it wasnÆt possible: ôWhen your eyes close, youÆre gonna feel
██│ it burn.ö ôRoom Across The Hallö is nostalgic for a relationship,
██│ starting quietly and gaining volume and propulsion, each section
██│ ending on a melancholy dream: ôI know IÆd find you dancing your head
██│ off, like youÆre never gonna stop.ö The horn-laden ôI Knew The Times
██│ WerenÆt Perfect (But The Drugs ArenÆt Working)ö is eminently
██│ danceable, though its buoyant mood and bridge straight out of ôBe My
██│ Babyö actively belie the lyricsÆ book-burning and hopelessness. The
██│ closer ôRoslynö is the only ballad on this otherwise upbeat
██│ collectionùits tale of a time gone by, coupled with ClaytonÆs piano
██│ and RosannaÆs violin, makes its two-and-a-half minutes feel like the
██│ score to a short film.
██│
██│ The band supporting the words is, of course, the sameùrooted in
██│ MacdonaldÆs tasteful, nuanced drumming; enhanced by Fairfax-PerryÆs
██│ synths and horns; pulled to breathtaking peaks by RosannaÆs robust,
██│ emotive voice. Aarntzen, by the way, is still on the scene in a
██│ consultant roleùhe helped Clayton with the occasional lyric, was
██│ present at the Sonic Temple sessions to offer insight, and engineered
██│ the bulk of Stories in his home studio. The hallmarks of a Hillsburn
██│ song are heart and heights, and that doesnÆtùit canÆtùcome from just
██│ one person.
██│
██│ Progress is inescapable, loss inevitable, growth unavoidable. But
██│ sometimes when you lean into it all, you discover thatùeven if it made
██│ you sad, even if you fought it, even if you worried it might not
██│ workùyou always had everything you needed.
██
│▓█
│▓█
│██│
██│ http://hillsburn.com
██│
██│
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