HINSON ATTEMPTS TO PLEASE NO ONE BUT HIMSELF WITH “TURN YOUR FROWN INSIDE OUT”
Give it a go: William Hinson’s life philosophy. Whether “it” may be a new genre, rabbit hole about The Beatles or learning Swedish, Hinson thinks as long as you try it, you’re learning. Right now, the biggest thing Hinson is “giving a go” is his debut sophomore album Turn Your Frown Inside Out available on November 10.
By Isaiah Pate
If you’ve been in the William Hinson Fan Club (trademark pending) for a while, you’re used to meeting a new side of him every release – the only thing that ties Hinson’s music together is the fact that he’s the one singing. If you’re new, TYFIO is the perfect place to start.
“It’s a record for a reason,” he explained from his home studio in an interview on September 27. “I had a few different songs, these bright songs, then I started writing these darker songs. Sonically darker, lyrically darker. So then it was like, I either do a full album or I do an EP – then it just kind of got to a point where it was like, well, I'm an albums guy.”
With a total of six singles time stamped from fall of 1983 to 2053, what he predicts music will sound like then at least, and dashed with a little of his signature flare, TYFIO is the independent musician’s dream: no rules. Hinson wants to explore every style of music, so he does: his own version of a 90’s teenage jam with “She’s Hot”, a jazzy piano number with “Girly Pop” and of course a swelling ode to imposter syndrome and his musical icon on “Paul McCartney”.
“Every great band or great artist, they do something and then they don't have to do that again,” Hinson said. “On this record I really wanted to write a 90s song. I tried for weeks and weeks and weeks, and then I finally wrote ‘She's Hot’. I feel like the thing that is beautiful about being an independent musician is that you can just sort of do that, and you don't have to back it up.”
By Gabby Fenimore
Pulling inspiration from The 1975, Hinson wrote lyrics that appear to mean nothing, but can be given their own profound life by each listener. He deemed these songs “Seinfeld Songs”, amalgamations of phrases that walk the fine line “between joking and being an idiot” – his favorite place to exist. Some of his favorite lines he’s ever written come from these songs, like “A little chat with some fat cats, a man in a hat, a couple years from a heart attack/Sing along to ‘Silk Chiffon’ and act like you belong here, because you belong here” from “Normal Night”.
“That's the closest thing to a universal truth in a line that I've ever written,” Hinson stated.
The final single, “Normal Night”, from Hinson’s deeply personal yet not-too-serious debut album comes out tonight, Wednesday, October 11, at midnight. Come join his world. Start wherever you want — maybe you’ll learn some Swedish along the way :)
By Gabby Fenimore