Spotlight: The Shins

Maybe you favored the raw, indie feel of Oh, Inverted World back in 2001. Or maybe you jumped on the wagon with the slightly guitar heavy Chutes Too Narrow in 2003. You could have even been a newcomer to The Shins and started listening back in ’07 when Wincing the Night Away came out, showing us just how weird (and lovable) The Shins could truly be. Regardless of when or why, Shins fans everywhere have one thing in common: We have waited five long years for this.

This week, I’m shining the Spotlight on The Shins and the release of their new album, Port of Morrow. Before this, it had been quite the hiatus for fans of the band. Leaving us with a taste of something different, The Shins had all but disappeared for far too long—nearly five years to be exact (and let’s be honest, it was “far too long” after the first year). Then, when lead singer James Mercer teamed up with Danger Mouse in the side project Broken Bells in 2010, some were worried as to whether or not The Shins were soon to be old news. Nevertheless, the Shins have returned, and they’ve come back with such energy that makes one wonder if they ever really went anywhere in the first place.

Port of Morrow hit the nail on the head as soon as it came through the door. Its first single, Simple Song is, in a lot of ways, the perfect single. It isn’t the best song on the album, but in my opinion, it’s in the top five. It represents what The Shins embrace so easily: a happy-go-lucky feeling that leaves you humming and smiling. Even the opening track, The Rifle’s Spiral fulfills its purpose and leaves you in the mood to hear more. In the first few seconds it sounds like it could have been plucked off of their last album, Wincing the Night Away. But, give it some time, and it acts like a blended canvas of every good Shins song; and that’s exactly what the whole album achieves.

The Shins are good at trying new things while still maintaining a very clear identity. What they hadn’t been particularly good at, until now, was putting all of those new things together at once. They, like numerous other great bands, have stages of progression, each of which is outstanding in its own regard. Now, however, Port of Morrow gives us a stage that defies all other stages. It is pure Shins “essence,” and in a way, it is as if they’ve created a “Shins Greatest Hits” album, but using only new tracks.