My record player has been burning up the Shins’ past stint, Wincing the Night Away, in excited preparation for their upcoming release, Port of Morrow. Adding fuel to this Shins lover’s fire, a new video was just set loose onto the interwebs yesterday as a music video for the album’s single, “Simple Song.” A decent musical display of what’s to come, the video adds a certain sense of nostalgia mixed with irony mixed with, well, tongue-in-cheek humor. The music video open’s with a dead James Mercer (who seems to be channeling a little bit of a Kevin Spacey circa American Beauty vibe) reading his last will and testament via (you guessed it) this song.
The whole thing is a little morbid, especially as he tells his three children (played by the backup band members) that to decide who will inherit the house, they must search the home for the deed. He then proceeds to tell them (after they find it, of course) that it’s a joke and out of nowhere, a giant crane comes in and takes the whole place down. Like we said. a little morbid and a little tongue-in-cheek: the perfect visual accompaniment for the Shins’ new single.
Stay tuned for your chance at their new musical madness Port of Morrow, out March 20th (via Columbia and James Mercer’s own Aural Apothecary). Until then download this video from iTunes for free. Duh.
read more 22 February, 2012
