Back in the Before Times, Hillsburn bravely ventured across the country to record at Vancouver, BC’s Soundhouse Studios, Monarch Studios and Menagerie Studios with Grammy-nominated producer Howard Redekopp (Tegan and Sara, The New Pornographers, Mother Mother). It would prove to be their final album as a quintet. In July, Hillsburn’s chief songwriter, Paul Aarntzen announced that he would be departing from the band.
Since that news broke, we’ve been eager to hear what was recorded on the West Coast. The second single to be released, “Husha” hits a tone that’s spot on for these troubling times and maybe more as the band reflects on “the disintegration of places that once defined us.”
That’s something of a daunting challenge just at the moment. We’re all quickly becoming experts in what it means to adjust to a new normal, but at least it’s relatable. The band delivers a story of a hometown visit gone wrong, with the dissolution of a relationship unfolding against a backdrop of unforeseen circumstances.
“‘Husha’ traces the story of a couple visiting the narrator’s hometown while in the death throes of their relationship,” says guitarist Clayton Burrill. “The town could be any forgotten corner of post-industrial North America, and the song perfectly captures the nostalgia and feeling of uprootedness that accompany economic decline and displacement. The story was apt before, but it seems particularly resonant now that the pandemic has punctured our collective sense of security.”
For that dire tone, it seems fitting that the band have returned to the folksier roots of their debut album, the much-loved In The Battle Years. There’s a melancholic simplicity to “Husha” that seems best suited to the soundtrack of a world slowly collapsing.
Between “Husha” and “Waking Up” we have our first two glimpses at Hillsburn’s upcoming record, Slipping Away; an album that the band describes as “a portrait of a society fraying at the seams.” Awfully spot on for having been written pre-pandemic. Slipping Away is due out on May 28 via LHM Records.