The Shins - Port Of Morrow

(Aural Apothecary/Columbia Records)

Oh, James Mercer, we’ve missed you. Port Of Morrow is The Shins’ first new material in four years and in a world where the young’uns are dabbling in skew-whiff electronica and art funk ‘jams’ with varying results, this glorious record is a timely reminder of how to craft good old, solid indie rock built on smart storytelling and melodies that head straight for the heart.

Highly unfashionable, yes, and not a huge departure for the band admittedly, but why deviate from a formula that produces music as swoonsome as opener ‘The Rifle’s Spiral’, buzzing riff-tinged ode to existential angst ‘It’s Only Life’, the skittering and sweet ‘Bait And Switch’ and ‘No Way Down’ and thundering drums-led epic ‘Simple Song’? These are love-on-first-listen songs that have made us fall for The Shins all over again.