Scott Hinkson shifts into a new gear with his upcoming album >> (Fast Forward) and the single I’m The Medicine — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
From the outset, the Winnipeg singer-songwriter was up for challenging himself on >>, his fifth full-length solo effort. The resulting first cut, I’m The Medicine, is a deliciously buzzy, undeniably hooky, electro-pop departure from his primarily acoustic guitar-driven back catalog. It also quickly distinguished itself from the other 10 songs on >> as the clear choice of the first single.
“I let the experimental tone of I’m the Medicine set the vision,” explains Hinkson. “I saw what was possible … and thought, ‘I can go electronic, I can go heavy, I want all of that.’ It helped dictate where I wanted to go with everything else.”
Of course, he had help from an impressive source: Kellii Scott, drummer for Failure, the art-rock space lords best known for 1996’s sprawling concept album Fantastic Planet, and this year’s ambitious full-length Wild Type Droid. For Hinkson, a fan since seeing Failure open for Tool in 1994, the chance to have the group’s notoriously heavy hitter keep time (and deconstruct it) on his own album was a dream come true.
“There’s an element of ‘pinch me, this isn’t real,’ ” Hinkson admits. “I was only one song into the writing of this album when I realized Kellii could play on everything. I was motivated to write as quickly as possible, ensuring I was pushing myself to step into sonic areas I had only vaguely explored on other records: More rock, rhythm, pulsing guitars, and keys. Every musical choice I made from that day forward was with him in mind. I stopped thinking about it as a solo album and more as a collaboration with one of my heroes.”
While Hinkson effuses about Scott’s playing, Failure’s star drummer is similarly generous in his praise for the veteran Winnipeg songwriter. Hinkson “creates those rare and wonderful moments when the mind stops, and music just pours out of me, unfiltered, unedited,” Scott says. “These moments are exactly why I love participating in music that beckons my true self.”
From the opening seconds of I’m the Medicine, you can tell Hickson has grown as a solo artist. >> is a record about change, speeding through the last seven years since his previous solo record and the trials he faced due to the pandemic. Without Scott’s involvement, Hinkson says he isn’t sure he’d have shifted from the writing stages to purposefully assembling an album.
“I wondered if an arrangement like this would lead someone like him to leave his best chops for Failure,” Hinkson confesses. “I’m happy to say that I don’t think he held back in any way, shape, or form. It’s just awesome.”
Check out I’m The Medicine above, hear more from Scott Hinkson below, and fast forward to his website, Facebook and Instagram.
