The Shins - 2017 - Heartworms (HDtracks) [[email protected]]
Artist: The Shins
Title: Heartworms (HDtracks)
Format: 11 × File, FLAC, Album, Remastered, 24bit 44.1kHz, (HDtracks)
Producer: James Mercer, Richard Swift
Release Date: March 10, 2017
Recorded: 2014–2016
Label: Aural Apothecary/Columbia
Genre: Rock, Alternative Rock, Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Post-Punk Revival
Duration: 41:48
The Shins:
Wikipedia:
The Shins are an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of James Mercer (vocals, guitar, songwriter), Jon Sortland (drums), Mark Watrous (guitar), Casey Foubert (guitar), Yuuki Matthews (bass), and Patti King (keyboards). The band is based in Portland, Oregon.
The band was formed by Mercer as a side project to Flake Music, who were active from 1992 to 1999. The band released two 7" singles and a full-length album When You Land Here It's Time to Return on Omnibus Records and were touring with Modest Mouse when they were signed to Sub Pop Records. The band's first two records, Oh, Inverted World (2001) and Chutes Too Narrow (2003) performed well commercially and received critical acclaim. The single "New Slang" brought the band mainstream attention when it was featured in the 2004 film Garden State. Consequently, the band's third album, Wincing the Night Away (2007), was a major success for the group, peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 and earning a Grammy Award nomination.
Following this, the Shins signed to Columbia Records and Mercer parted ways with the entire original lineup, deeming it "an aesthetic decision". Following a near five-year hiatus, Port of Morrow, the band's fourth studio album, was released in 2012. Their fifth album, Heartworms, was released in March 2017.
Heartworms:
Wikipedia:
Heartworms is the fifth studio album by American rock band The Shins. The album was released March 10, 2017, on Columbia Records. It is the Shins' first studio album in five years. The album was produced by James Mercer. "So Now What" was produced by former band member Richard Swift.
Heartworms received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 73, based on twenty reviews.
AllMusic Review by Heather Phares:
Since James Mercer rebooted the Shins with a new lineup on 2012's Port of Morrow, the project has been a more freewheeling affair, and never more so than on Heartworms. This is easily the most wide-ranging music he's made with any project, including Broken Bells. Within a handful of tracks, the band touches on psychedelic exotica ("Painting a Hole"), Weezer-ish new wave (the standout "Half a Million"), and throwbacks to the Oh, Inverted World/Chutes Too Narrow era (the title track, "Dead Alive"). Not coincidentally, Mercer handles the lion's share of Heartworms' production duties, and he packs these songs with sounds and ideas until they're ready to burst. Sometimes, this oversaturated approach pays off: "Cherry Hearts"' busy electropop captures the head-over-heels thrill of a drunken kiss. Elsewhere, it feels like the album's hyper-detailed words and sounds fight against each other instead of working together: on "Name for You," the shiny arrangement overwhelms the song's feminist lyrics. Not surprisingly, the more intimate songs are some of the album's best entry points. "Mildenhall," a country-tinged reminiscence about how Mercer fell in love with music as a teen while living in England, is one of his finest songs yet, capturing big moments with little details ("A kid in class passed me a tape/A band called the Jesus and Mary Chain"). Similarly, the album's final two songs show just how skilfully -- and unpredictably -- the Shins can pair words and sounds. "So Now What" is an ode to commitment that sounds like it could float away at any moment, while "The Fear" sets the insecurities that creep into long relationships to a steady beat and romantic strings. Though it takes a few listens to get to the heart of Heartworms, fans who have stuck with Mercer for this long will find it time well spent.
Tracklist:
01. Name For You (3:10)
02. Painting A Hole (4:44)
03. Cherry Hearts (3:33)
04. Fantasy Island (4:47)
05. Mildenhall (3:20)
06. Rubber Ballz (3:17)
07. Half A Million (3:23)
08. Dead Alive (3:34)
09. Heartworms (2:57)
10. So Now What (3:38)
11. The Fear (5:26)
Personnel:
James Mercer – lead vocals, guitar
Yuuki Matthews – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Mark Watrous – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Casey Foubert – guitar
Jon Sortland – drums
Joe Plummer – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Richard Swift – keyboards, piano, organ, synthesizers, percussion, drone box, backing vocals
Patti King – keyboards
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