Over a country-flavored lope, the Shins’ James Mercer looks back at his youth on “Mildenhall,” a song from the recent Heartworms (Aural Apothecary/Columbia). It’s the second Shins album since Mercer ditched the folks he started the band with nearly two decades ago, and the tune’s autobiographical intimacy—it’s a military brat’s recollections of how music came into his life—is at once charming and a bit dissonant.…
Over a country-flavored lope, the Shins’ James Mercer looks back at his youth on “Mildenhall,” a song from the recent Heartworms (Aural Apothecary/Columbia). It’s the second Shins album since Mercer ditched the folks he started the band with nearly two decades ago, and the tune’s autobiographical intimacy—it’s a military brat’s recollections of how music came into his life—is at once charming and a bit dissonant.…