It’s been over two-and-a-half years since The Shins last released music—and even longer since they’ve recorded it, considering 2018’s The Worm’s Heart “flipped” songs from 2017’s Heartworms, itself recorded between 2013 and 2016. It was a welcome surprise, then, when James Mercer et al revealed a new single this morning entitled “The Great Divide.”
Rather than the of-the-moment indie rock they’ve been known for since Natalie Portman introduced us to them in 2004, the new single leans into influences from both the past and the future, with Mercer citing “everything from vintage synthesizers to iPhones, from a ’60s Ludwig kit to an 808” involved in the recording process. “It’s an epic about longing and love in a broken world,” he noted in the song’s press release. “I guess we wanted to try to provide a bit of warmth and sentiment in hard times.”
Hear the new track below, complemented by a psychedelic visual directed by Paul Trillo.
