While battling leukemia, Barenaked Ladies keyboard player Kevin Hearn spent a month in isolation in the H-Wing of Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital. The appropriately titled H-Wing is the product of his songwriting therapy during this tumultuous time.
Emerging cancer-free, Hearn teamed up with former Look People bandmates Great Bob Scott (drums) and Chris Gartner (bass), Rheostatics singer-guitarist Martin Tielli and multi-instrumentalist Derek Aardy Orford. The resulting band, Thin Buckle, add alt.country twang and oddball funk and jazz touches to Hearn’s maudlin vocals. Members of Barenaked Ladies, By Divine Right and the Rheostatics add instrumental and vocal support.
Hearn’s quirky lyrics range from humorous asides — he feels like “Nick Rhodes without his gel” on “Driftwood” — to direct confrontations with his illness. “Mouth Of A Shadow” offers his most enlightening lines:
“Don’t give in they’ll say/ There’s nowhere to run anyway/I have decided to stay/And take on the shadow/That darkens the day.”
While others would drown these lyrics in melodramatic song arrangements, Hearn and company opt instead for minimal instrumentation, letting the words carry their own power. It’s this Spartan aesthetic that makes H-Wing such an engaging listen.
Get it from
- Rheostatics Marathon A Nod To Stompin’ Tom
- Rheos Frontman Date Set For The Poppy Salesman
- Solo Barenaked Lady Show Tonight
- Rheostatics Begin To Record New Album
- Kevin Quain @ El Mocambo (downstairs)
