Vancouver band Hillsboro finds its groove on new album A Party in Your Name

Hillsboro is a Vancouver shoegaze band with a new album titled A Party In Your Name released on May 29, 2026. Photo by Gudrun Wai-Gunnarsson /Jess Arcand Take Aim

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Moments into the opening tune on Hillsboro’s A Party In Your Name album, it’s crystal clear that the Vancouver band has found exactly where ’90s emo and ’80s “shoegaze” meet.

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HotGirlTM layers atmospheric guitars and screaming violin over Oliver Hollingshead’s leaden kick drum for a sonic assault. Then, Nima Walker’s plaintive lead vocals land on top, asking for attention from someone who clearly isn’t listening.

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By the song’s end, the wall of sound is reduced to a whisper.

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It’s awesomely dramatic, and a perfect example of why this group is selling out shows across Canada and is receiving big praise for its new record.

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While the new album is something of an introduction to the group, it is the band’s fifth record. Hillsboro has been around since 2019. The Car Sex EP arrived in 2020.

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“We started seven years ago with a specific intent to play slo-core emo really loud in basements to blow people’s heads off,” said Walker. “It was fun, so we put out the first record and then COVID stopped everything. That turned out to be good for the band, as we had a few years of listening to records and writing new songs in our basements.”

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That material formed the body of 2023’s self-titled full length debut, expanding the band’s sound in the direction it has perfected on A Party in Your Name.

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“Then pretty much everyone’s personal lives fell apart and you can hear it in the writing,” he said. “We’ve all experienced the hard things that come with being in your 20s amplified through the lens of a global pandemic. In the end, we always came back to the band as something like a family taking care of one another.”

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The combination of life’s ups and downs combined with space between releases played a key role in developing the fully-realized sound heard on the new recording. Walker, lead guitarist Samuel Wells, drummer Hollingshead, bassist Layten Kramer and violinist Dexter Hodgins worked with go-to Victoria record producer and audio engineer Colin Stewart, whose past credits include Black Mountain, Destroyer, Yukon Blonde, Dan Mangan and many others.

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“Our tastes have grown with each release and the time in between them, but now I think we are capturing exactly where we wanted to be now,” said Walker. “Our new bassist Layten has kind of been Colin’s mentee for the past few years and he introduced us and Colin gave us some free studio time in his basement. After a week, he suggested we work together.”

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While Stewart was a new set of ears in the mix, there was also continuity by having Elisa Pansaeng as mastering engineer. The Juno-winning technician’s credits include Lights, Said the Whale and Yukon Blonde. This is her second Hillsboro album.

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“That working relationship came out of Oliver doing a lot of producing and recording and coming across Elisa’s work,” he said. “They started working together and now she masters all of our friend’s bands and big name talent.”

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Walker says all of these connections is what gets you results such as the Kit Baronas-directed, 13-minute mini-film for A Party in Your Name. Once again, Walker credits friendly connections making such projects come together. Hillsboro’s very DIY world involves working with indie talents they respect rather than for exposure.