James Mercer has been doing his amiably anxious alt-pop nice-guy thing since the Shins' strummy-sad 2001 debut, Oh, Inverted World, expanding his sound without diluting his signature shy intimacy. Last time out, on 2012's great Port of Morrow, Adele producer Greg Kurstin helped give Mercer's world-weary melodicism a sleek polish.
This article originally appeared on www.rollingstone.com: Review: The Shins’ ‘Heartworms’ Is a Tender, Home-Brewed Charmer