Heartworms (album)

For the Whipping Boy album, see Heartworm (album).
"So Now What" redirects here. For the British sitcom, see So What Now?
Heartworms
Studio album by
The Shins
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
[16]

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
The Shins
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.
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