Heartworms (album)

Heartworms
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 10, 2017
RecordedNov–Dec 2013 ("So Now What"), June 2015 – June 2016
Genre
Length41:44
LabelColumbia
ProducerJames Mercer
The Shins chronology
Port of Morrow
(2012)
Heartworms
(2017)
Singles from Heartworms
  1. "Dead Alive"
    Released: October 26, 2016
  2. "Name for You"
    Released: January 5, 2017
  3. "Half a Million"
    Released: June 13, 2017[3]
  4. "Cherry Hearts"
    Released: October 31, 2017[4]

Heartworms is the fifth studio album by American rock band The Shins, released by Columbia Records on March 10, 2017—the band's first studio album in five years.[5] It was produced by James Mercer,[6] with the exception of "So Now What", which was produced by former band member Richard Swift.[6] The album art is based on the Japanese Ukiyo-e triptych Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre.

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic73/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
The A.V. ClubB[9]
Drowned In Sound[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[2]
The Independent [10]
musicOMH[11]
NME[12]
Paste7.1/10[13]
Pitchfork7.6/10[14]
Rolling Stone[15]

Overall, Heartworms received positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it has an average score of 73, based on twenty reviews.[7]

Accolades

[edit]
Publication Accolade Year Rank Ref.
Drowned in Sound Favourite Albums of 2017
2017
77

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by James Mercer

No.TitleLength
1."Name for You"3:09
2."Painting a Hole"4:44
3."Cherry Hearts"3:33
4."Fantasy Island"4:46
5."Mildenhall"3:19
6."Rubber Ballz"3:17
7."Half a Million"3:23
8."Dead Alive"3:34
9."Heartworms"2:56
10."So Now What"3:38
11."The Fear"5:25

Personnel

[edit]

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[17]

The Shins

  • James Mercer – vocals, guitar (all tracks); bass (1, 2, 7–9, 11), synthesizers (3, 4, 6, 7), percussion (5, 8), chord organ (5, 11), ukulele, harmonica (11)
  • Joe Plummer – drums (1, 4, 6–10)
  • Yuuki Matthews – synthesizers (1–9, 11), drums (3), percussion (3, 5, 6), bass (4, 6, 10)
  • Mark Watrous – guitar (1, 4, 8), piano (1, 8, 9), strings (4, 11), kalimba (4), bass synth (5), castanets (6)
  • Jon Sortland – drums (2)
  • Richard Swift – synthesizers, Mellotron (4, 6, 10); drums (4), percussion (4, 10)

Additional musicians

  • Chris Funk – guitar, dulcimer (2); baritone guitar (11)
  • Steve Drizos – percussion (2)

Technical

  • James Mercer – production (1–9, 11)
  • Richard Swift – production (10)
  • Yuuki Matthews – mixing
  • Brian Lucey – mastering
  • Jacob Escobedo – artwork, design

Charts

[edit]
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] 16
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[19] 52
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] 60
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[21] 36
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22] 26
French Albums (SNEP)[23] 157
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 61
Irish Albums (IRMA)[25] 18
New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ)[26] 2
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[27] 35
Scottish Albums (OCC)[28] 16
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 44
UK Albums (OCC)[30] 19
US Billboard 200[31] 20

The Worm's Heart

[edit]
The Worm's Heart
Remix album by
ReleasedJanuary 19, 2018
RecordedOctober 2016
Genre
Length41:26
LabelColumbia
ProducerYuuki Matthews, Jon Sortland, James Mercer
The Shins chronology
Port of Morrow
(2012)
The Worm's Heart
(2018)

In December 2017, the band announced that a "flipped" version of Heartworms would be released on January 19, 2018. Titled The Worm's Heart, the follow-up album contains the same songs as Heartworms, but reinterpreted and presented in reverse-order.[32] According to Mercer, slow songs were played faster, quiet songs louder, and vice versa.[32]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by James Mercer

No.TitleLength
1."The Fear (Flipped)"4:41
2."So Now What (Flipped)"4:18
3."Heartworms (Flipped)"3:09
4."Dead Alive (Flipped)"4:34
5."Half a Million (Flipped)"3:27
6."Rubber Ballz (Flipped)"3:30
7."Mildenhall (Flipped)"4:17
8."Fantasy Island (Flipped)"3:27
9."Cherry Hearts (Flipped)"2:52
10."Painting a Hole (Flipped)"3:10
11."Name for You (Flipped)"4:01

Charts

[edit]
Chart (2018) Peak
position
New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ)[33] 10

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Miller, Kellan. "Album Review: The Shins – Heartworms". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Brown, Eric Renna. "Album Review: The Shins – Heartworms". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  3. ^ "Future Releases on Alternative Radio Stations, Independent Artist Song Releases – ..." 6 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-06-06. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Future Releases on Alternative Radio Stations, Independent Artist Song Releases – ..." 22 October 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-10-22. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  5. ^ Sodomsky, Sam (January 5, 2017). "The Shins Announce Tour". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  6. ^ a b Gomez, Adrian (January 6, 2017). "The Shins will open world tour with homecoming show at El Rey". The Albuquerque Journal.
  7. ^ a b "Reviews for Heartworms by The Shins". Metacritic. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  8. ^ Phares, Heather. "Album Review: The Shins – Heartworms". AllMusic. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  9. ^ Williams, Matt. "The Shins, Laura Marling, Greg Graffin, and more in this week's music reviews". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  10. ^ Gill, Andy. "Album reviews: The Shins – Heartworms, The Magnetic Fields – 50 Song Memoir, Valerie June – The Order of Time and more". Independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2022-05-09. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  11. ^ Ashton-Smith, Alan (March 10, 2017). "The Shins – Heartworms Review". musicOMH. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  12. ^ Gunn, Charlotte (March 24, 2017). "The Shins – 'Heartworms' Review". NME. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  13. ^ Milo, Jeff. "The Shins: Heartworms Review". Paste. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  14. ^ Rytlewski, Evan. "Album Review: The Shins – Heartworms". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  15. ^ Dolan, Jon. "Album Review: The Shins – Heartworms". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  16. ^ "Drowned in Sound's Favourite Albums of 2017". Drowned in Sound. November 22, 2017. Archived from the original on November 23, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  17. ^ Heartworms (booklet). The Shins. Columbia. 2017. 88985 41202 2
  18. ^ "Australiancharts.com – The Shins – Heartworms". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  19. ^ "Austriancharts.at – The Shins – Heartworms" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  20. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Shins – Heartworms" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  21. ^ "The Shins Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  22. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Shins – Heartworms" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  23. ^ "Lescharts.com – The Shins – Heartworms". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  24. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Shins – Heartworms" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  25. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography The Shins". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  26. ^ "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. March 20, 2017. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  27. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – The Shins – Heartworms". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  28. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  29. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Shins – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
  30. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  31. ^ "The Shins Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  32. ^ a b Kaye, Ben (2017-12-15). "The Shins announce The Worm's Heart, a "flipped" version of their latest album, Heartworms". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  33. ^ "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. January 29, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2018.