MUSIC | INDIE POP “GETTING BACK TO BASICS,” CONTINUED... Greg Kurstin, an in-demand pop genius who has worked with Adele, Sia and Foo Fighters. “You can’t replace Greg, who’s just a pile of massive talent. So Port of Morrow definitely has its own sound,” Mercer says. “But this time, I really wanted the luxury of time. I wanted the luxury to just sort of sit there and noodle around and … get back into the sort of kooky weirdness that ends up happening when I’m left alone in the studio for too long.” Indeed, Mercer’s likeable brand of kooky weirdness is all over Heartworms, from “blah blah blah” backing vocals on “Name For You,” to the video-game dub-pop of “Cherry Hearts,” to the suffocatingly fuzzy bass line that runs under “Painting a Hole.” And then there’s “Mildenhall,” which finds Mercer leaving behind the wordplay and metaphors and opening up about his past more than ever before. He references his upbringing in a military family, having an awkward haircut, skateboarding on cobblestone streets and learning to play his dad’s guitar. Mercer says those lyrical choices were driven by the song’s simple guitar hook, which reminded him of Merle Haggard and prompted him to tell a story. But the more personal style also seems to line up nicely with his concurrent desire to take the Shins’ music back to where it started. “I think I’m more comfortable just saying the truth about who I am. If I were to go back to the mid-’90s, I would’ve been embarrassed to say that I had a flat-top, because I still felt ownership
of that teenaged shithead who wasn’t cool at all,” Mercer says. “I still wanted to think somehow that I could ever be cool. Once you give that up, you can be honest.” And with mid-career honesty comes a clearer vision of the future. Not only does Mercer consider Heartworms to be “full circle” for the Shins, he also feels like we’re nearing “the end of the album as a medium” and that he wants to “enter some sort of new mode.” Which doesn’t mean the Shins are over, necessarily. It just means that Mercer’s way of running his operation might be changing. “I just don’t know that I wanna go through that process of making a full-length record anymore,” he says. “I don’t think there’s much of a reason to, for my own entertainment and for the people that we sell records to... or don’t sell records to.” Translation: The future is wide open for James Mercer and his popular pop-rock project, the Shins. Even he may not know where he’s headed. And that’s OK, he says: “It’s easier to admit your flaws when you’re older, I’ve learned. I don’t sweat the small stuff as much. Well, sometimes I do, I guess.” n The Shins with Day Wave • Sun, Sept. 24 at 8 pm • $39.50 • All-ages • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague • sp.knittingfactory.com • 244-3279
PEOPLE WHO CARE EVENT 15th Annual Fundr aising Event
Thursday, October 5th at the Hotel RL
303 W North River Drive – FREE PARKING –
The Save Date
Breakfast (7:30 am - 8:30 am) —&— Lunch (12:00 pm - 1:00 pm)
RESPECT LIVES HERE
Will you help it thrive?
For more information about this event, including Table Captain opportunites, Sponsorships and Virtual Pledges, please contact: Mary Tracey at mtracey@help4women.org or 509-328-6702
This event raises funds to support Transitions mission to end poverty and homelessness for women and children in Spokane, WA. Help us provide safety, support and the skills for success to more than 1,600 women and their children each year.
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