Wincing the Night Away
| Wincing the Night Away | ||||
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| Studio album by The Shins | ||||
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Publication |
2007 |
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| Label (s) | Sub pop | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Indie pop |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
41 min 47 s |
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| occupation |
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James Mercer, Joe Chiccarelli |
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Wincing the Night Away is the fourth music album by the US indie band The Shins . It was released on Sub Pop in 2007 , received good reviews, and did very well, especially in the United States. All of the songs on the album were written by James Mercer , singer and guitarist for the Shins . The title of the album is a reference to the song Twistin 'The Night Away by Sam Cooke .
Wincing the Night Away is considered more experimental than the group's previous albums. In the song Sealegs can be hip-hop -like beats found. The guitar is partially replaced by a more indistinct keyboard. Mercer's singing is repeated in places or receives an echo. The album is also about ten minutes longer than the band's previous albums.
Anita Robinson from Viva Voce, who also supported the band in live performances, can be heard in the song Phantom Limb .
Track list
- Sleeping Lessons - 3:58
- Australia - 3:57
- Pam Berry - 0:57
- Phantom Limb - 4:49
- Sealegs - 5:23
- Red Rabbits - 4:32
- Turn On Me - 3:43
- Black Wave - 3:19
- Spilt Needles - 3:47
- Girl Sailor - 3:46
- A Comet Appears - 3:49
reception
The majority of the critics received the album positively. The New Musical Express spoke of the band's best album to date and awarded it nine out of ten possible points. It offers a more varied and more convincing sound. The icing on the cake are the lyrics, because you never know what James Mercer is getting at. Robert Christgau wrote in Rolling Stone : “In no way can new music be good in the humble way that old music was. In no way can it be sleek, charming or unguarded - and it can sound less lyrical or sad or homemade. ” Instead, note Wincing the Night Away 's work for three years. Christgau awarded the album 3.5 out of five possible points.
Most German-speaking critics were also impressed by Wincing the Night Away . On laut.de there was talk of an "all-around wonderful-wonderful [n]" album that much too early end. In the intro you said it was "[...] long no longer produced as catchy and likable creaky as its predecessors, but much clearer and more expensive." . The pieces are more complex, broadly orchestrated and "sometimes have completely different parts in music and lyrics."
Publications and sales
The album was released on January 23, 2007 in the United States and sold 118,000 in the first week. This put it in second place on the Billboard 200 album chart, the highest position that a Sub Pop record had ever achieved. In the second week it sold 53,000 copies in the US and fell to number eight on the charts. In the UK, where the album is distributed by Transgressive Records, it hit number sixteen in the first week. It came in second in Canada, seventeen in Sweden and 21 in New Zealand.
The first single is Phantom Limb . It was made available for download on iTunes on November 14, 2006 and was released on CD in the US a week later. Phantom Limb , according to Mercer, is about a young, lesbian couple who settle accounts with the small town in which the girls live.
Web links
swell
- ↑ ARD.de ( Memento from February 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Rolling Stone
- ^ New Musical Express
- ↑ laut.de
- ^ Billboard, January 31, 2007
- ^ Billboard, February 7, 2007
- ^ The Official UK Charts Company
- ↑ jam! ( Memento of February 7, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on February 21, 2007)
- ^ Swedish Charts
- ^ Billboard, August 24, 2006 ( Memento of September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )