Description
The Shins – The Worms Heart – Vinyl Record
A complete rework of The Shins acclaimed album HEARTWORMS
Features new versions of all 11 tracks
The Worm’s Heart is an inventive companion album by The Shins, released in 2018. Rather than offering a collection of new songs, the album reimagines every track from the band’s previous release, Heartworms, transforming each composition through new arrangements, tempos, instrumentation, and stylistic approaches. More than a remix album, The Worm’s Heart is an experiment in musical reinterpretation, demonstrating how dramatically a song’s emotional character can change while its core identity remains intact.
By the time of its release, James Mercer had long established himself as one of indie rock’s most distinctive songwriters. Throughout The Shins’ career, Mercer became known for his literate lyrics, melodic sophistication, and willingness to evolve musically. The Worm’s Heart reflects that restless curiosity, inviting listeners to hear familiar material from an entirely different perspective.
The album’s title cleverly mirrors Heartworms, suggesting that this is the reverse side of the same artistic idea. Where Heartworms often featured polished, layered indie-pop production, The Worm’s Heart strips some songs back, amplifies others, changes rhythmic feels, and occasionally shifts the emotional emphasis entirely. The project asks an intriguing question: how much of a song’s identity lies in its arrangement rather than its melody or lyrics?
Musically, the transformations are substantial. Up-tempo rock songs become laid-back grooves, intimate ballads gain rhythmic momentum, and familiar melodies appear in fresh instrumental settings. Influences ranging from garage rock and synth-pop to psychedelic rock, new wave, and lo-fi indie emerge throughout the album, giving each track a distinct personality while preserving the strength of Mercer’s songwriting.
One of the album’s greatest achievements is its demonstration of compositional durability. Because the underlying songs are so well constructed, they withstand dramatic reinterpretation without losing their emotional impact. Listeners are encouraged to focus on the craftsmanship beneath the production, hearing melodies, harmonies, and lyrical ideas in a new light.
Mercer’s vocals remain a defining feature. His warm, slightly wistful tenor adapts naturally to the altered arrangements, often changing the emotional meaning of familiar lyrics simply through different phrasing or musical context. His understated delivery continues to provide the album with a strong sense of continuity despite the stylistic shifts.
The production embraces experimentation while avoiding novelty for its own sake. Rather than simply altering sounds through studio effects, the arrangements are thoughtfully reconstructed, with different instrumentation, grooves, and textures serving each song’s revised emotional direction. The result feels like an alternate universe version of Heartworms rather than a collection of remixes.
The album retains the introspective themes of its predecessor. Mercer’s writing continues to explore love, uncertainty, memory, vulnerability, and personal transformation, but the new musical settings often cast those ideas in different emotional colors. Songs that once sounded melancholy may become hopeful, while previously buoyant tracks take on a more reflective character.
When The Worm’s Heart was released, critics praised its originality and the confidence behind its concept. While some viewed it primarily as a companion piece for fans of Heartworms, many appreciated it as an artistic statement in its own right—one that highlighted both the flexibility of the material and Mercer’s ongoing willingness to challenge conventional album formats.
The project also serves as a reminder that recording is itself a creative act. By reconstructing rather than merely remixing these songs, The Shins illustrate how arrangement, tempo, instrumentation, and production profoundly influence the listener’s experience. The album becomes almost a lesson in songwriting and interpretation, revealing the multiple lives a single composition can possess.
With its imaginative concept, elegant songwriting, and thoughtful reinvention of familiar material, The Worm’s Heart stands as one of the more unusual and rewarding companion albums in modern indie rock. It showcases James Mercer’s enduring gifts as a songwriter while demonstrating that great songs can thrive in more than one musical form. Clever, adventurous, and quietly fascinating, The Worm’s Heart invites listeners to rediscover music they thought they already knew.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
The Fear (Flipped)
So Now What (Flipped)
Heartworms (Flipped)
Dead Alive (Flipped)
Half A Million (Flipped)
Rubber Ballz (Flipped)
Mildenhall (Flipped)
Fantasy Island (Flipped)
Cherry Hearts (Flipped)
Painting A Hole (Flipped)
Name For You (Flipped)
