Hillsborough
Magnetic Lives
If you like your Country music more on the Americana side, you might want to start paying attention to Australia. Seriously. Over the past few years, there’s been a host of solid Country music artists coming from the land down under…. I’m not talking Slim Dusty, or Keith Urban, or Morgan Evans, I’m talkin’ about acts like Mustered Courage, maybe a little Weeping Willows, and this band, Hillsborough, from Queensland. I’m a big believer that bands often sound like the landscape they come from, and the tones these cats put out are right in line with the dusty American west, or Queensland’s interior.
Phil Usher and Beata Maglai spearhead this band who began releasing material this year. Not quite sure about Maglai’s musical background - maybe she sang with Sacred Shines (?), but it appears that Usher was in an indie rock band for the better part of a decade that had considerable success. Either way, the combination is solid - their voices are perfect together. Here’s our review of the track.
It’s a reverby Gretsch toned riff that drops us into the first verse right away. Vibe is desolate and vast. Phil takes the first two lines, and Beata joins him on the second half giving us an introduction into how well they sound together. They’re backed up by an acoustic, bass and simple drum beat that keep the focus where it should be, on the heartbreaking tale of the lyrics. Great mix - solid choices being made by whomever produced it. With the first chorus, there’s not much of a change musically but if you pay attention to the lyrics it works very well. The sections are really only separated by that opening head riff that hold everything together like magnets. Only when we get to the bridge do we see things break up a bit, ironically underneath the lines of “piece yourself together, this could take a while,” and it’s followed by a lovely and haunting open section, supported by Maglai’s great falsetto. Love the desperation in the writing and Phil’s vocal delivery - he kind of reminds us of one of our favorite Nashville writers, Ruston Kelly, as well as Jason Isbell. Love the way they end it with a bow after a final verse. Didn’t see that coming, and if you read our blog a lot you’ll know that we love to be surprised like that.
For a song to fit well in the Americana genre it has to have a big, analog sound. Nothing digital (if you know what I mean). The vocals don’t have to be technically perfect, but they better be honest in their delivery. It helps to have an aching and relatable tale, and production shouldn’t have any modern tricks in it. Finally, and most importantly, the song better be good. This one has all of that in spades. Really dig this band, their tones, the stories, the look - all of it.
Make sure you scroll down to catch their socials and their other tracks. Exit Wounds is a favorite, it’s a bare-bones and haunting duet that sounds like it could have come from Tom Waits. Beautiful organ work! Trouble Finds Its Way is another - it’s got a great Travelling Wilburys vibe. Great harmonies and another great lyrical story. Love the looseness of the track. Comin’ Back for You sounds like it could have been cut by Marty Stuart or Dwight Yoakam - great Bakersfield rock song. Can’t wait to see what this band does next and hope to see them over here someday!
Check it out now!