The Shins--Wincing the Night Away

With growing crescendo, bubbly instrumentals lead into a full-on explosion of bright bouncing melodies in The Shins’ "Sleeping Lessons," their opening track on the eternally tricky third album, Wincing the Night Away. Veteran Shins fans should feel comfortable in the warm overflowing, pop-injected intro track—but don’t get too comfortable. "Sleeping Lessons" serves more as a transitional piece, leading into The Shins’ new refined sound. While a few songs relive this "classic" Shins sound ("Phantom Limb," "A Comet Appears"), Wincing the Night Away finds James Mercer and The Shins experimenting with down-trodden and melancholy tones—experimentation that adds a breath of fresh air to the easily bungled third album.

"Red Rabbits" and "Black Wave" play with this idea, and as a result become some of the most powerful tracks on the album. "Red Rabbits" in particular is softly chilling, due mostly to Mercer’s dark lyrics: "So help me, I don't know, I might / Just give the old dark side a try / Don't cast your warring eyes on the shore / Did we even the score?" Complemented with some sort of underwater percussion and somber guitar-work, Mercer strains out his last breath to finish the song, "We've pissed on far too many good intentions held by clever sprites / And they're all standing up for their rights." Wincing the Night Away features a good balance however, and it’s not all down-and-out melancholy. "Australia" features wonderful melodic refrains, a bouncy upbeat rhythm line, and the tongue-teasing chorus "You'd be damned to be one of us girl / Faced with a dodo's conundrum / Ah, I felt like I could just fly / But nothing'll happen every time I try." The masterpiece of the album however is "Split Needles," a tune that shows just what musical heights The Shins can climb to with their new-found sound. Awe-inspiring vocal climaxes rock the listener with sweetly dramatic lyrics, sweeping instrumentals, and an overall sound that could make this album your favorite.

Wincing the Night Away sheds light on The Shins incorporating a new sound into their peppy modus operandi. Incorporating ‘80s influences with a down-trodden melancholy theme, The Shins are clearly moving in a new direction with their music. I hesitate to call this new direction an improvement per sea, only because nothing about The Shins’ earlier sound was necessarily in need of improving. More, it is a welcomed change that shows a mature band modestly flexing its creative muscle and crafting songs that sound refreshingly different from their earlier works, while remaining true to their musical foundation and avoiding alienation of old fans. The Shins win a major victory in the always difficult third album by filling Wincing the Night Away with a sound that’s been tinkered with…but not overhauled.

(Published at MusicEmissions.com)