Thanks to one Mr. James Mercer, it seems my long-standing invocation to traverse the margins of indie-rock hyperspace may finally be coming true. And the best part of all? I don’t even have to leave planet earth.
That’s right — as a followup to their hit studio album Heartworms (which dropped back in March of this year) — Mercer and (maybe?) a sparklingly-talented-yet-totally-irrelevant crew of Shins bandmates have announced the release of The Worm’s Heart, which will feature “flipped’ versions of every track from Heartworms. Slow, acoustic songs like “Mildenhall” and “The Fear,” for example, will be given shots of adrenaline straight to the ass, while thumping synth tunes like “Cherry Hearts” will be stripped down into “rawer,” more organic subunits.
You can get your first glimpse into this brave new Shins’ hyperdimension by checking out “Cherry Hearts (Flipped)” below, and then — after you’ve stepped foot into the alternate universe — you can further stimulate your aural devices with the flipped version of hit Heartworms single, “Name For You.” It seems that after 15 years of dominating this galaxy, Mr. Mercer has now set his sights on conquering every alternate dimension in the indie-rock multiverse.
The Worm’s Heart is set to drop on January 19, but if you feel you can’t wait that long, go ahead and hop into your little Naboo Cruiser and pre-order the record (in either CD or LP format) from this handy little intergalactic wormhole into the future.
The Worm’s Heart tracklisting:
01. The Fear (Flipped)
02. So Now What (Flipped)
03. Heartworms (Flipped)
04. Dead Alive (Flipped)
05. Half a Million (Flipped)
06. Rubber Ballz (Flipped)
07. Mildenhall (Flipped)
08. Fantasy Island (Flipped)
09. Cherry Hearts (Flipped)
10. Painting a Hole (Flipped)
11. Name For You (Flipped)
More about: The Shins
