‘Heartbreak Hill’ is the final Boreen album. Morgan O’Sullivan started the project ten years ago, documenting the complexities of life as a young person. He filled out his recordings with a kitchen sink of quotidian samples, toy instruments, and synthesizers. Eventually cajoled into playing live shows by his close friends who later became his band, Boreen played gigs in the Portland diy scene, did some touring around the pacific northwest and released 4 full length records. The recordings have always been a deeply personal and labored over pursuit for O’Sullivan and the fifth and final Boreen album, Heartbreak Hill is no different. At times it sounds like O’Sullivan’s DAW is about to explode with countless layers of textural bliss in the form of catchy synthesizer melodies, samples, blown out guitar freak outs, backing vocals and contributions from friends on various instruments. In addition to his intricate arrangements, Morgan also knows when to strip a song down to its most meaningful parts to create a punctual pop song. Lyrically O’Sullivan conjures a wide array of imagery, some beautiful, some ugly. His songs encapsulate a grab bag of the realities that one encounters in life, highlighting the moments of bliss that make the horrors bearable. Lyrics have always been a window into his insular world, whether it isĀ memories of childhood friends, glimpses of the recent past, events overheard on radios, or fictional stories conjured from within. Heartbreak Hill is a wonderful culmination of years of work in songwriting and home recording. One could not find a more perfect capstone for one of the best diy projects of the 2010s-20s. Out now on Bud Tapes.
Purchase Cassette: Boreen – Heartbreak Hill
Joyful Union Cassette Resource 