Over previous Shins albums James Mercer cultivated a persona as an aloof and reluctant frontman - albeit one with the ability to craft perfect indie-pop songs with hooks to burn.
But he's had a major attitude adjustment on Port of Morrow, the Portland-based band's fourth album and surely one of their finest.
Fronting an all-new band, Mercer sounds like he's having the time of his life, whipping through 10 effortlessly upbeat tracks that sound a world away from 2007's occasionally depressing Wincing the Night Away.
First single Simple Song is an instant classic with its jagged guitar riffs, no-verses-just-choruses policy and typically obtuse lyrics like, "My life in an upturned boat, marooned on a cliff" hitting all the right spots.
But it's far from the only standout, with the jaunty and wistful lounge-room acoustic ditty Bait and Switch, and the carnival atmosphere of the horn-drenched Fall of '82, proving Mercer is in a different headspace these days.
