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Sep 22, 2023 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Olive Hunter Nelson

Earlier this month, alt rock outfit Hillsboro shared their debut self-titled album. Led by frontman Nima Walker, the band embraces maximalist aesthetics and melodrama, referencing back to moody shades of dark pop, emo, grunge, and indie rock, all while taking some novel stylistic turns. As the band describes, the album came together over the course of three years, during which Walker assembled journal entries and bedroom-recorded demos which formed the foundations of the record. The band developed the instrumentals and arrangements together, recording the album instrumentally before cut-up lyrical snippets were added.

Accompanying the album, the band have also been sharing a series of music videos from the record. Today, they’re back with another new video for one of the album’s highlights, “Dissolve,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Dissolve” trades off between ripping distorted sections and moments of floating beauty, leveraging both the band’s penchant for layered effects and Walker’s glassy vocals. The verses feel downcast and turbulent, but the chorus and instrumental breaks launch the track skyward, with a climax that feels almost euphoric. The resulting contrast leans heavily on the band’s ‘90s influences, but they also imbue the track with plenty of modern angst and vitality. The music video hits on a similarly grungy balance, both steeping the band in dark shades and washing them out in moody and overexposed colors.

Walker says of the track, “During the creation of this album, I had no idea what I was going through. I think I was crawling in my skin going from teen to adult. I was flailing around. It took a long time to feel like the darkness of that whole world was over. It felt like I kept getting dragged in despite my efforts to distance myself. We good now though, I’m getting healthier and the album really serves as a useful document of all the feelings swirling around at the time. HILLS 4EVA”

Check out the song and video below. Dissolve is out everywhere now.