Review: The Shins "Port of Morrow"

Image from iTunes.com

Tuesday, May 29, The Shins will take the stage at Red Rocks.  The name may or may not sound familiar; it has been five years since the band, fronted by James Mercer, released the oft-overlooked Wincing the Night Away, and eleven since they first appeared with Oh, Inverted World.  Now, just when the question of whether Mercer would remain in an artistic dry spell was heavy on the minds of his fans, it’s time for a sigh of relief.  Port of Morrow, a captivating assemblage of genre-defying tracks, will assuage any doubts regarding Mercer’s brilliance.  It is a gratifying expansion of his previous works, retaining elements of the lightheartedness and lyricism of past albums while adding new sounds and approaches to his palette.

It seems in the five years Mercer was off the scene, he didn’t pay much attention to changes in the indie music discussion.  He is even more resistant to the expected than on previous albums, with tracks that skip from decade to decade and style to style in a way that is indecisive but not frustrating or tentative.  There are tracks that display a near classic rock flair, that would sound at home on 60′s and 70′s radio waves (see “Fall of ’82”, with its muted trumpet solo), tracks that are striped-down soul pop perfection (“For a Fool”), tracks that harken back to the electro-pop sounds of Mercer’s Broken Bells collaboration (“The Rifle’s Spiral”).  Surprisingly, though, the listener is not thrust into a state of musical whiplash.  The album is unified by Mercer’s rhapsodic lyrics and melodies, his attention to detail, and his use of sounds from the past.

Though many listeners may deride Mercer for moving towards a more mainstream, radio-friendly sound, his sparkling melodies, the magic in his lyrics and his ever-expanding sonic range set him apart from anyone else.  Port of Morrow is definitely worth multiple listens.  When Mercer comes out from backstage on the 29^th, he will be met by ten thousand cheering fans; fans who, after the long wait, were pleasantly surprised by the charm and magic of this album, who are ecstatic at the rekindling of The Shins.