Hinder’s Lips Of An Angel Gets Country Makeover

Austin John Winkler, the former vocalist of Hinder – the rock band that got to #1 in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and on the US Mainstream Top 40 charts with their single, Lips Of An Angel – has put a country spin on the well-known track with Nashville country singer Shaylen.

Lips Of An Angel landed at #1 in Australia in February 2007 and retained that place for seven weeks. The second single from Hinder’s debut album, Extreme Behaviour, made the American rockers a household name. But what if it went country?

Winkler claimed that the new version “still rocks, but it's got a little country twist to it now” in a recent interview with PEOPLE.

Telling the story of how Winkler connected with Shaylen and how the collaboration happened, the singer explained, “There was a guy named Brian Howes, who actually [co-wrote and produced] the first Lips Of An Angel. He was the one who connected us, and that's how I first heard Shaylen's voice. I was blown away.”

Shaylen responded, “When they told me that they would love for me to do it, I literally was dumbfounded. And then to go meet Austin at RCA Studios…it just worked. He’s a fucking rockstar of a human being.”

Explaining how the country-fied version of Lips Of An Angel utilises a TikTok trend that shows the female perspective that was often missing in early 2000s rock music videos, Shaylen continued: “You have the guy perspective in the original, but then you also realise women and humans, in general, go through this feeling every day.

“No matter if you're male or female, you are always wondering if they're doing good. It’s really cool to be given the opportunity to have that voice on the female part.”

You can watch the reworked Lips Of An Angel music video below.

Shaylen’s music career began with her as a pop singer, but in July 2022, she landed with her debut country single, What If I Don’t, followed by Roots in October.

In a Country Note interview following the release of Roots, Shaylen revealed that she wanted to release a new album this year.