Singer, songwriter, and producer James Mercer of The Shins wrote “New Slang” when he was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It came out as a single and then he re-recorded it for The Shins’ debut album Oh, Inverted World, which came out 20 years ago, in 2001. After Garden State came out, featuring the song "New Slang," that album went gold. And the soundtrack for the movie won a Grammy. Nowadays, James Mercer lives in Portland. I spoke to him from his home studio, and he told me how The Shins actually first started as a recording project, a side project, while he was in another band called Flake Music. In this episode, James breaks down "New Slang" and looks back at how his songwriting and his early home recording skills came together to make this iconic song.
For more, visit songexploder.net/the-shins.
R.E.M - Try Not to Breathe
Nine Inch Nails - The Lovers
Rachel Platten - Broken Glass
Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Stranger Things (Main Title Theme)
TOKiMONSTA - Bibimbap
The Killers - Rut
Lorde - Sober
Rostam - Bike Dream
Ibeyi - Deathless
Maggie Rogers - Alaska
St. Vincent - New York
Grizzly Bear - Four Cypresses
Phoenix - Ti Amo
Slowdive - Sugar for the Pill
Goapele - Stand
Fleet Foxes - Mearcstapa
Michelle Branch - Best You Ever
alt-J - In Cold Blood
Michael Kiwanuka - Black Man in a White World
Perfume Genius - Slip Away
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