A couple of months ago, I wrote a post detailing my excitement upon finding out that James Mercer of The Shins was collaborating with supa-producer Danger Mouse on a full-length album project called Broken Bells. While the album isn’t due until March, the twosome have provided us with a sneak peak of the upcoming opus.
“The High Road” is the album’s first single, and while it’s fairly recognizable as a Danger Mouse track, I wouldn’t have placed James Mercer as the vocalist. He’s singing in a different register than we’re used to hearing on Shins records, but once you get over the surprise, you’re left with a pretty good track. Danger Mouse’s production work always has this mysterious, spooky quality to it, and it’s nice to hear Mercer sing over something with a little more boom-bap to it than your average Shins record. Check it out for yourself and let us know what you think.
