The Shins have announced that their next album, Port of Morrow, will be released in March via Columbia and James Mercer's own Aural Apothecary imprint. It follows 2007's Wincing the Night Away.

Mercer wrote all the songs and played most of the instruments. The album was produced by Greg Kurstin (Lily Allen, the Bird and the Bee).

An exact release date and tour in support of the record will be announced soon.

01 The Rifle's Spiral
02 Simple Song
03 It's Only Life
04 No Way Down
05 September
06 Bait and Switch
07 Fall of '82
08 For a Fool
09 40 Mark Strasse
10 Port of Morrow

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I guess this band is a one man show now. Hope it can live up to the first three records.

About time. I hear they're a totally new band except for James Mercer. Let's hope they retain some semblance of their sound.

I saw the new girl guitarist at a Bob Mould tribute last month. She was a rather mundane player.

If it sounds anything like either the last Shins album, or even Breaking Bells, I'll be quite happy. Regardless, looking forward to it.

Their last album was by far my favorite. Looking forward to this very much.

The Shins have never equalled Oh Inverted World and probably never will. Still one of the few bands I'd buy their album on release day.

I think Chutes Too Narrow is their best album by far.

I suppose if Oh Inverted World didn't exist.

I like both but Oh Inverted World leans a little bit on the twee side for me. A bit too Belle and Sebationy for my tastes. I totally got hooked on Chutes Too Narrow for about 6 months so it will always be my favorite.

I think they will be a completely different band with this new release. We'll see if Mercer still has the songs.

I hate that term but I know what you mean. To me, the album is more mysterious. When it came out, it felt mysterious and delightfully strange. Then they became somewhat over produced (I suppose just produced) but still good.

Of course the most damaging (and beneficial as far as exposure) thing that ever happened to the Shins was the "The Shins changed my life" line from Garden State. After that, you caouldn't tell anyone you like them without hearing "did they change your life? HA HA HA".

So is Mercer a complete asshole? What happened to this band?

For most intents, Mercer is The Shins. While there are other people who have been part of the band, he has always been the primary creative force behind the group.

I forget the exact story of why he parted ways with the last incarnation of the band.

Agreed. Hopefully, like Wincing, this one will be able to be "previewed" three months early.

First song - "Simple Song" - streaming on his/their site: http://simplesong.theshins.com/

Not bad.

Sounds really good

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News I can use!

I can't stop listening to Simple Song.

Damn...thats really good imho.

I'm afraid I don't like this new song.






That's right.

I LOVE IT!

Yeah, that's a really solid tune. Chalk me up as a big Oh Inverted World fan. It's amazing how much this band has influenced where indie rock has gone the last few years.

I guess if I could only keep one Shins record, it would be Chutes Too Narrow, but I'm a big fan of all three. Their artistic evolution has been extremely enjoyable. The new single sounds great too.

The record comes out on Tuesday.

I've listened to it a couple of times and ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.

The Amazon bonus track are pretty good, too.

This is a must purchase for me.

I liked it a lot, but I don't think it quite has the hooks that Wincing the Night Away did. I need to give it a few more listens to fully get an opinion on it though.

Meh. I like about half the songs. The ones that sound like the Shins to be exact. The rest sounds like mellow 80s pop. Fall of '82 sounds like Steely Dan. I don't know what to make of the mess of a title track. Way too overproduced too.

I've listened to this 4 times now. Really loving it.

Only 2 of the 10 tracks are so so for me.