Heartworms is the fifth studio album by American rock band The Shins, released by Columbia Records on March 10, 2017—the band's first studio album in five years.[5] It was produced by James Mercer,[6] with the exception of "So Now What", which was produced by former band member Richard Swift.[6] The album art is based on the Japanese Ukiyo-e triptych Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre.
Heartworms | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 10, 2017 | |||
Recorded | Nov–Dec 2013 ("So Now What"), June 2015 – June 2016 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 41:44 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | James Mercer | |||
The Shins chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Heartworms | ||||
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 73/100[7] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [8] |
The A.V. Club | B[9] |
Drowned In Sound | [1] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+[2] |
The Independent | [10] |
musicOMH | [11] |
NME | [12] |
Paste | 7.1/10[13] |
Pitchfork | 7.6/10[14] |
Rolling Stone | [15] |
Overall, Heartworms received positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it has an average score of 73, based on twenty reviews.[7]
Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Drowned in Sound | Favourite Albums of 2017 | 2017
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77
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All tracks are written by James Mercer
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Name for You" | 3:09 |
2. | "Painting a Hole" | 4:44 |
3. | "Cherry Hearts" | 3:33 |
4. | "Fantasy Island" | 4:46 |
5. | "Mildenhall" | 3:19 |
6. | "Rubber Ballz" | 3:17 |
7. | "Half a Million" | 3:23 |
8. | "Dead Alive" | 3:34 |
9. | "Heartworms" | 2:56 |
10. | "So Now What" | 3:38 |
11. | "The Fear" | 5:25 |
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[17]
The Shins
Additional musicians
Technical
Chart (2017) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] | 16 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[19] | 52 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] | 60 |
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[21] | 36 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22] | 26 |
French Albums (SNEP)[23] | 157 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] | 61 |
Irish Albums (IRMA)[25] | 18 |
New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ)[26] | 2 |
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[27] | 35 |
Scottish Albums (OCC)[28] | 16 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] | 44 |
UK Albums (OCC)[30] | 19 |
US Billboard 200[31] | 20 |
The Worm's Heart | ||||
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Remix album by | ||||
Released | January 19, 2018 | |||
Recorded | October 2016 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 41:26 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Yuuki Matthews, Jon Sortland, James Mercer | |||
The Shins chronology | ||||
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In December 2017, the band announced that a "flipped" version of Heartworms would be released on January 19, 2018. Titled The Worm's Heart, the follow-up album contains the same songs as Heartworms, but reinterpreted and presented in reverse-order.[32] According to Mercer, slow songs were played faster, quiet songs louder, and vice versa.[32]
All tracks are written by James Mercer
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Fear (Flipped)" | 4:41 |
2. | "So Now What (Flipped)" | 4:18 |
3. | "Heartworms (Flipped)" | 3:09 |
4. | "Dead Alive (Flipped)" | 4:34 |
5. | "Half a Million (Flipped)" | 3:27 |
6. | "Rubber Ballz (Flipped)" | 3:30 |
7. | "Mildenhall (Flipped)" | 4:17 |
8. | "Fantasy Island (Flipped)" | 3:27 |
9. | "Cherry Hearts (Flipped)" | 2:52 |
10. | "Painting a Hole (Flipped)" | 3:10 |
11. | "Name for You (Flipped)" | 4:01 |
Chart (2018) | Peak position |
---|---|
New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ)[33] | 10 |