photo by Brittney Bollay (view photos here)
How long has it been since you’ve heard a new album by The Shins? Too long? Long enough for you to think they broke up? Five years have elapsed since Wincing the Night Away came out on Sub Pop, and though frontman James Mercer had kept busy with backing Modest Mouse and forming Broken Bells with Dangermouse, Shins fans couldn’t have been more ecstatic last summer when it was announced that a new album would be out soon. On March 20, James Mercer of The Shins will release Port of Morrow, on his own Aural Apothecary record label. And to seed a growing fervor, he recently set two new songs afloat -- the first single, “Simple Song,” and its b-side, “September” -- and has been making select appearances to perform the new songs live. We were thrilled that James Mercer chose to stop by KEXP to share these new songs live in our studio. You can listen to his performance here on our Streaming Archive and watch him play an older favorite plus the new singles below. Then, stay tuned because on March 20, when the new album hits stores, we’ll be releasing a third new song from this session.
3 Comments
I love this, James Mercer is a genius! Check out The Shins’ new music video for “Simple Song”, its so clever and interesting http://vevo.ly/xftjVy
James mercer has always been one of my favorite artists and I really like the new Shins music. You need to see the “Bait & Switch” video if you haven’t seen it. One of my new favorite shins songs! http://bit.ly/w2xs4V
When will this be on KEXP Live Performances Podcast? I would love to listen to these on the go.