The Shins—Port of Morrow

In the 2004 movie Garden State, Natalie Portman’s character Sam declared that a Shins song is capable of changing your life. The reference unwittingly catapulted the indie pop band to a level of national recognition only otherwise achieved if Oprah picks your novel for her book club. And while the Shins benefitted from this burst of popularity, they would have found their present level of fame regardless, because at the heart of the Shins, as well as their new album Port of Morrow, is an unrivaled sincerity that they sail on past trends and novelty.

Only the Shins sound like the Shins, and Port of Morrow is as stylistically distinct as the band’s previous albums and seemingly impervious to the mercurial waves of indie nowness—in 2012, this sounds either electronic or like a cross-genre infusion. The new album still relies on frontman James Mercer’s high octave voice and charming yet opaque lyrics to guide the songs, but skillfully experiments with mood to create a sense of nostalgia that resonates even for a new listener.

The songs are at once comforting and creative, which seems to be reflective of Mercer as an artist and person. In the album opener, “The Rifle Spiral,” he unleashes such cryptic gems as “Dead land’s collided/ You pour your life down the rifle’s spiral/ And show us you’ve earned it/ Cleric’s fog will recede right before your eyes.” The simple, meandering melodies of songs like “For a Fool” and “September” anchor the album when it verges into more experimental territory, such as on the album’s closer, “Port of Morrow.” The standout title track distorts Mercer’s voice into a layered falsetto to create an intricate, spacey composition that is reminiscent of Mercer’s side project Broken Bells, his collaboration with artist-producer Danger Mouse.

The fact that Port of Morrow is a solid, well-crafted musicians’ album is unsurprising. In a thoroughly conventional packaging that disguises Mercer as a run-of-the-mill singer-songwriter, the band packs patient melodies, elusive writing, a strange pop morphology and of course, that voice. Which is all to say, this is a very talented band, and even if their appeal is hard to pin down, it’s easy enough to drink the Portman Kool Aid—go ahead, let them change your life.

—Katie Zaborsky