In August 2017, Amazon Video released the first season of The Tick, a television series based on the comic book of the same name written by Ben Edlund. Among the many ridiculous comic book characters in the series, Hines portrays Superian who is perhaps the most recognizable as an archetypal superhero.
Hines is a vocal supporter of Bernie Sanders. In the lead up to the 2016 Democratic Primaries, he joined the Vermont Senator at several events to campaign for Sander's bid to become the democratic candidate for President of the United States. In September 2017, Hines released “Average Is”, the debut single from his upcoming solo album Qualms, a collection of songs written and recorded in the Joshua Tree Desert after the 2016 presidential election.