Interviews: Talking 'TV Dinner' with Cam Hilborn and Aurora Evans of Wine Lips

Wine Lips, the garage punk duo spanning Ottawa and Hamilton, are preparing to drop their fifth studio album, titled TV Dinner, scheduled for release on August 28, 2026, via Stomp Records. Over thirteen tracks, the band channels their unpolished energy into songs that confront contemporary life's absurdities, including the pervasive nature of doomscrolling and the strain of escalating living costs.

The album marks a significant evolution for Wine Lips, with drummer Aurora Evans stepping forward to share lead vocal duties on several tracks such as “Projector” and “Fried V.” This shift brings fresh vocal textures to the record and reflects the band’s adaptive dynamic, partly influenced by logistical challenges like their geographical distance and health setbacks encountered during touring.

The creative process for TV Dinner was notably decentralized and iterative. Cam Hilborn, vocalist and guitarist, and Aurora conducted much of the songwriting and demo exchange remotely, given their five to six-hour separation. Recording took place over multiple studio sessions, allowing the duo to revisit and refine material progressively, a method that contributed to the album’s raw, garage rock ethos.

Artwork for TV Dinner, characterized by a vibrant and chaotic palette, was crafted by artist Sammy Jones. The band granted Jones considerable artistic freedom, ultimately selecting a design that resonated more authentically with their aesthetic after an initial concept was set aside at the label’s request. This bold, colorful visual complements the album’s energetic and unfiltered musical approach.

The album’s title, TV Dinner, was chosen from a shortlist of potential names late in the process. It emerged as a preferred option through collective input beyond the band itself, favoring its thematic alignment over alternatives such as "Strip Club DJ," a song title on the album. This spontaneous decision-making underscores the band’s broader creative method, which embraces intuition and adaptability under time constraints.

A defining feature of the album is its candid engagement with modern digital culture. For example, the track "Thirst Trap" critiques the blurred line between satire and reality prevalent in social media, particularly in the era of AI-generated content. This theme reflects the band members’ observations about the challenges of discerning authenticity in today’s media landscape.

The band also continues a unique tradition with their recurring “Fried” tracks, each album including one or more compositions bearing this title. This ongoing series began as a way to balance track lengths but has since evolved into a thematic thread. With Evans now contributing lead vocals on the latest installment, the “Fried” saga demonstrates the band’s evolving creative partnership.

In live settings, Evans’ assumption of lead vocals on select songs is both a practical strategy and an artistic development. This approach helps mitigate vocal strain for Hilborn, who has faced challenges maintaining his voice amidst demanding tour schedules. Vocal preparation, including exercises recommended by a therapist, has become an essential component of maintaining performance quality on the road.

The music video for the single “Semi-Detached Furnished Home” showcases the band’s commitment to craftsmanship beyond music. Directed by Sammy Lewis, the video features intricately built and hand-painted miniature sets created over weeks, adding a tangible dimension to the band’s aesthetic and reinforcing the DIY ethos central to their identity.

Wine Lips will support the album's launch with a European tour commencing the release day, followed by North American dates in the fall, including select performances alongside Death From Above 1979. This touring cycle aims to bring the new material directly to audiences, highlighting the band’s energetic live presence and the evolved vocal interplay between Hilborn and Evans.

Looking beyond the album, the band has expressed interest in shifting away from mainstream social media platforms, citing a yearning for more genuine, less algorithm-driven fan engagement. The recent news of MySpace’s potential revival as a non-algorithmic platform was met with cautious optimism, reflecting Wine Lips’ desire to reconnect with audiences in more authentic ways.

While details about future projects remain limited, TV Dinner encapsulates Wine Lips’ dedication to raw expression and responsiveness to contemporary cultural themes, delivered through a collaborative process marked by geographical separation and spontaneous creativity.