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.
AURORA - Runaway
Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us
Arlo Parks - Black Dog
Imagine Dragons - Follow You
girl in red - Serotonin
Porter Robinson - Get Your Wish
Lianne La Havas - Can't Fight
Jon Batiste - We Are
Glass Animals - Heat Waves
Sasha Sloan - Until It Happens To You
PJ Morton - Say So (feat. JoJo)
HAIM - Summer Girl
Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Father and Son
Common - A Riot In My Mind
Jewel - You Were Meant For Me
Billie Eilish - Everything I Wanted
Re-issue: Phoebe Bridgers - Scott Street
Deftones - Ohms
Run the Jewels - JU$T
Dua Lipa - Levitating
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