''Heartworms'' is the fifth studio album by American
rock band
The Shins, released by
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
on March 10, 2017—the band's first studio album in five years. It was produced by
James Mercer,
with the exception of "So Now What", which was produced by former band member
Richard Swift.
The
album art is based on the Japanese
Ukiyo-e triptych ''
Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre''.
Reception
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.
Accolades
Track listing
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
[''Heartworms'' (booklet). The Shins. ]Columbia
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* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
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. 2017. 88985 41202 2
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
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...
(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
''The Worm's Heart''
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.
According to Mercer, slow songs were played faster, quiet songs louder, and vice versa.
Track listing
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2017 albums
Columbia Records albums
The Shins albums