James Mercer is back after five years with his signature shyness with The Shins’ fourth studio album Heartworms, an ode to the frontman’s long-standing anxiety and battle with the limelight.

Almost five years after The Shins’ last release Port of Morrow, James Mercer and his charming melancholy are back with Heartworms, released on Aural Apothecary/Columbia Records. With their debut album being released almost 20 years ago in the form of Oh, Inverted World in 2001, it has been a long and successful journey for the band which has culminated in their reputation as respected contributors to the genres of indie and folk rock. Heartworms, as a release in its own right, appears to be a winding narrative surrounding Mercer’s mental health in the past two decades. The band went on hiatus in 2008, with Mercer stating that aspects of being in the limelight made him “uncomfortable”. Not too much has been spoken about the underlying anxiety that caused this long-standing hiatus, but Heartworms is, finally, Mercer’s platform to discuss it.

The album’s lead single and probably it’s strongest track is ‘So Now What’, which sits as the penultimate song on the album. This is suitably fitting, as the track embodies an ethereal revelation in a ballad-esque harmony with mercer crooning, “I guess we'll just begin again”. If you are in any way a die hard fan of The Shins scene as a whole, you might recognise this single from the soundtrack to Zach Braff’s second independently released movie Wish I Was Here. The track was written bespoke to Braff’s release, and almost sounds as though it could be a generic soundtrack to the long, moral, episode sum ups Braff would speak at The end of every Scrubs episode. Although on the surface this is quite a cynical opinion, ‘So What Now’ is actually a wonderful piece of formulaic atmospheric indie pop. It’s sweeping scales and Mercer’s dreamy voice makes for a wholly uplifting piece of music.

‘So What Now’ isn’t the only impressive track from Heartworms though and ‘Painting a Hole’, second on the album, is a progressive ode to the darker side of The Shins songs. The track harks back to the new wave pop that The Shins was birthed from and it is warming to see that Mercer hasn’t forgotten his routes after a long-stint as the frontman. ‘Painting a Hole’ provides a repetitive bassline and drum track along with a peppering of some new experimental synth/electronica vibes that work surprisingly well alongside Mercer’s shrill harmonies.

What is weakest on Heartworms is its lack of cohesiveness in, well any form. The album regularly skips from synth-laden indie pop to old school folk with little consistency in between. Although lyrically there is evidence of Mercer’s struggles with his anxiety and depression, the album does little to maintain a theme. At times, it could be assumed that Mercer intended this to demonstrate his ability to be dynamic within his music, however it isn’t executed with any grace or feeling and can leave parts of the album feeling empty and soulless.

The track’s that seem particularly random amongst The Shins’ history as a whole, as well as Heartworms, starts with ‘Rubber Ballz’. This track, oddly named, sounds worryingly close to the Bewitched theme tune when it starts. It has elements of an indie-pop charm to it, such as a harmonising set of ‘bops’ at the beginning, however the entire composition is uncomfortably produced in a novelty manner that leaves the song feeling like a quaint experiment, and a similar atmosphere is found on ‘Cherry Hearts’. In addition, there is ‘Mildenhall’, a track that seems like a casual Willie Nelson tribute in the midst of a generally indie-synth pop album. Why Mercer has decided to go full on folk on this track we will probably never know, and it is a shame because the track on its own contains quite a well-written harmony but, arguably, it doesn’t seem to belong on Heartworms.

Heartworms has good intentions, and it is definitely good to see the band back on the scene after such a long hiatus. As individual art pieces, each song from the album demonstrates the band's long-standing talent and experience in songwriting. It is just a shame that as a whole, they don’t sit well together.
Sian Blewitt

Facebook: facebook.com/theshins
Instagram: instagram.com/theshins
Twitter: twitter.com/TheShins