Brendan Hines is a name we’re going to be hearing a lot more of over the coming weeks. Not only is he starring in Amazon’s new superhero comedy The Tick, which premiered today, but he’s also just dropped the first track from his forthcoming album.
‘Average Is’ has a strong sound and grabs your interest immediately thanks to the driving guitar melody. Brendan’s voice is commanding too, particularly as he delivers the final line in each verse.
His heart’s a little smaller than the average is
When working on ‘Average Is’ and his forthcoming album, Brendan was keen to create a body of work which would evoke a feeling of freedom. Reminiscing about a time when he truly felt free, Brendan said: “I got my drivers license in 1993. I remember driving home from high school one day, the snow from the week before thawing in what was likely the first warm day of the year. I had the windows down and the sunroof open in my mom’s ’87 Honda Accord.
“Every time I took a turn or came to a stop I heard the comforting sound of rattling plastic from my three cassette tape briefcases, each filled to alphabitized capacity. I needed all my music with me at all times. In lieu of doing homework, most nights I’d make mix tapes and distribute copies to my friends; full of movie quotes and lyrically satisfying guitar rock almost exclusively from the years in which I had been alive, these mixes were celebrations of the solitude, speed and obliteration of silence that form a 16 year old’s commute. I don’t remember what song was playing that day; probably something by Elvis Costello or Midnight Oil or Ian Dury or Dire Straits. What I do remember is the utter novelty of feeling completely free to be myself with myself, and with the words I knew by heart but could only scream at this volume when alone and at this velocity.
“I wanted to make a record that conveyed some sense of that feeling. During our four day stint at a recording studio in the desert last year, ‘Average Is’ was the first song the band and I recorded. It set the tone for the rest of the songs and the mood for the next few days as we learned what the record would come to be. Singing it brought me back to that day in the car 23 years ago. I hope you’ll listen and sing along to ‘Average Is’ (and the rest of the songs on Qualms) in your car, loud and at the fastest speed the law allows.
‘Average Is’ gives us an idea of what we can expect from Qualms, which Brendan recorded in Joshua Tree a couple of days after last year’s election. Talking about Qualms on Facebook, he said “the album’s 9 songs are ‘unfashionably imperfect, unadvisedly earnest, shockingly catchy encapsulation of anxieties & insults, warnings & suggestions, rages & recoveries’.”
In addition to his music career, Brendan is a successful actor, known for starring in shows such as Lie to Me, Scandal and Suits. His latest project is Amazon’s new superhero comedy reboot The Tick, which premieres today. Based on The Tick comics, the show will give Ben Edlund’s comic book character a new lease of life. Brendan plays a new character called Superian, who is a comically struggling superhero with issues.
‘Average Is’ is out now.
Are you loving ‘Average Is’? Looking forward to seeing Brendan Hines in The Tick? Let us know on Twitter @CelebMix
ncG1vNJzZmiblaGyo7nIsWWcp51kr7OxzZ2Yp2WYnrumv4yarZ6qkZyycA%3D%3D