When Natalie Portman mumbled an off hand remark in Zach Braff’s directorial debut, the surprise indie success story, Garden State, she didn’t realise the impact she would have on James Mercer’s life. But when the words “The Shins… you gotta hear this song, it’ll change your life – I swear,” dropped from her mouth, the band’s profile rocketed and albums started flying off the shelves on both sides of the Atlantic.
Now, four years of incessant touring later, The Shins are finally ready to unleash their third album, ‘Wincing The Night Away’. It’s an infectious collection of introvert tracks and their most polished work to date. But the road has been a rocky one, and lead singer and guitarist James Mercer is glad the end is in sight. “We toured for so long because Garden State came out and all of a sudden we had double the number of fans and were selling more records. About one and a half years ago I started writing for the album while we were touring, then when the tour finally stopped I managed to get some of it down.”
“There were big changes that I needed to work through. I had a break up with a girl; that wasn’t too cool, then I realised that I was living next door to a crack dealer and that was a bit stressful. But I’m much happier now and I think that’s partly down to the record being quite a cathartic experience because I can take all these crap things that are happening and turn them into something beautiful.”
It is the former Leon star who is to blame for the stress and strife. After Garden State, the band’s second album, ‘Chutes Too Narrow’, and their 2001 debut, ‘Oh! Inverted World’, sold more than a million copies, forcing the band to add another year onto their already gruelling tour schedule. When James finally arrived home to Portland, the crack dealers had set-up shop on his doorstep and he didn’t hang around. “I had brought a house in quite a poor neighbourhood, but it was the only place I could afford,” the singer sighs. “I didn’t look at the house next door and think, ‘that’s a crack house’. I went up and talked to the people who live there and they seemed nice, so I figured they were okay so I bought the house and it turned to be a bad decision.”
So he packed up his bags sharpish and set about getting into the studio and pouring his broken soul into the microphone. “There were moments that felt so sickening working on this record,” nods the singer. “It’s really hard to work on something when all you want to do is forget about it.” But after months spent hunched over the mixing desk strumming on guitars and in the recording booth singing in hushed tones about break-ups and crack dealers, The Shins’ most original album to date was finished.
Opening track, ‘Sleeping Lessons’, starts off with gently humming keyboards vibrating through the speakers, as a lo-fi twisted vocal scratches its way over the top. After two minutes of leftfield droning and muted guitars, the song explodes into life with a stomp-along finale of distorted guitars, layered vocals and the call to arms “off with their heads”. A few tracks later and the album has strayed even further afield from safe Shins territory, in the form of ‘Sea Legs’, with its uncanny echoes of the Beta Band at their prime and a pulsing beat that almost spills over into hip-hop.
I can take all these crap things that are happening and turn them into something beautiful.
“I think we are stuck on our own, I don’t think we really know what we are doing, which can be quite scary sometimes,” shrugs James. “There’s probably something very comforting for My Chemical Romance when they look around and see hundreds of other bands that are virtually the same. But we look around and don’t really see anyone similar, we seem to be the only one sailing our course.” It is a brave move to make your most varied album after years spent playing the toilets of America have finally paid off, and it’s one James hopes will go down well with the fans.
“It’s still all my songs, but it’s pretty different from the last two albums and the production is a bit more advanced,” enthuses James. “It’s more experimental than the last records, but it’s definitely still The Shins, it’s still very vocal and melodic. I decided to take my time doing this record and I think it’s more elaborate, there’s a little bit more orchestration and there’s a bit more production too. I think this is the first time that I’ve really enjoyed listening to my own record, I just can’t get enough of it for a change. But it’s not like I get up every morning and listen to it as soon as I wake up.”
Not only is the album set to be the band’s biggest success to date, but there is more good news on the horizon, because the crack dealers who kept James up day and night are soon to be on their way, leaving him with not just a down-tempo album of pop gems, but a promising property portfolio too.
“It’s all worked out alright because now I live on the sunny side of Portland and I still own that house as well,” he smiles. “I think it will be a great investment, the whole neighbourhood is being gentrified, I don’t know how long those crack dealers are going to be there, because the whole place is being sorted out. Everything is turning out alright. ”
