Music Blog

As you probably know by now, the first Shins record in five years drops March 20th in the form of Port of Morrow. It's the fourth overall from the recording entity known as The Shins, currently constituted it seems of frontman James Mercer and a cast of many. The Shins as live band, on the other hand, are another thing entirely, with Jessica Dobson, Richard Swift, Yuki Matthews, and Joe Plummer rounding it out alongside Mercer these days.

Speaking of that new lineup, they played double duty in this new video for Port of Morrow's first single, "Simple Song," turning in solid performances as the family Mercer's character leaves behind. He manages to cause as much chaos in the wake of his death as he did when he was alive (as we see through the magic of vintage camcorder footage). Spoiler alert: epic demolition scene ahead!

But you have not yet begun to get your fill of Shins news, and it includes some big weekends ahead. The first of those is this weekend: The Shins play the latest installment of You Who! this Sunday at the Kennedy School beginning at 1pm. The word is it's a sold out show, but chances are you can find some way in if you try hard enough (are your child's tears worth nothing??). Two weekends after that, so March 10th, The Shins have been confirmed to play Saturday Night Live with guest host Kevin Spacey ...er, just kidding, it's Jonah Hill (but we kind of wish).

Finally, the weekend after that (March 17th) you'll hear a session with James Mercer (on our own In House on OPB radio) recorded at his home studio in SE Portland. Look for some wonderfully-shot video from the same coming soon right here in a session that features Shins songs new and old.

As previously relayed, The Shins have a busy few months ahead, with tourdates on both sides of the Atlantic including Coachella, Bend's Les Schwab Amphitheater and Sasquatch.

Tagged: video