Port Of Morrow
After Portland-based The Shins received a GRAMMY® nod for 2007\'s *Wincing the Night Away*, mastermind James Mercer proceeded to collect another nomination (again for Best Alternative Music Album) as half of Broken Bells. Now Mercer has put the finishing touches on The Shins\' fourth studio album, *Port of Morrow*—writing every song, performing all lead vocals, and playing most of the instruments. It\'s highlighted by \"Simple Song,\" which boasts the band\'s hallmark baroque-pop leanings; it\'s like an intricate, modern spin on work by \'60s greats The Zombies and Love.
Five years after the moody Wincing the Night Away and two releases by his Broken Bells project, James Mercer returns to the Shins energized and with his songwriting prowess intact.
Port Of Morrow might not be the final Shins album, but perhaps it should be. It’s not a bad record; on the contrary, there’s enough good to fortify James Mercer’s status as one of the most appealing tunesmiths of his generation. Nor is Morrow an unnecessary or perfunctory album, coming as it does in the wake of…
Engaging enigmas left by the wayside as James Mercer plots a course to the arena with The Shins' fourth album
Obviously, such a record comes with a lot of hype and expectation. The Shins fourth LP, _Port of Morrow_, had a lot to live…
Having shed all but one of their original line-up, The Shins' long-awaited follow up to 2007’s Wincing the Night Away is rather more of a musical manifesto for frontman James Mercer than any collective vision. This, of course, should be no bad thing, given his delivery of three critically and commercially successful albums to date, in addition to a recent fruitful foray with Danger Mouse under their Broken Bells banner.
It’s been five years since The Shins’ ‘Wincing The Night Away’ sold a record number of albums and bagged a Grammy nomination in the process.
The first album by the Shins' new line-up is typically bookish and melodic, if a little clinical, writes <strong>Ally Carnwath</strong>
In some sense, Port of Morrow is the classic pop album that James Mercer has always been on the verge of making.
<p><strong>Alexis Petridis</strong>: From their gently angsty, indie beginnings, the Shins are becoming a more mainstream rock concern – albeit at a cost</p>
An all-new line-up for James Mercer's indie-rockers, but they still manage to deliver. CD review by Lisa-Marie Ferla