The Shins announce new album, ‘Heartworms,’ and release date

The Shins’ anticipated fifth studio album finally has a title and release date. The group revealed Thursday morning that the set will be called Heartworms and is due for release March 10 via Aural Apothecary/Columbia Records. Following their Halloween surprise release, “Dead Alive,” they also shared another track, the sunny “Name For You,” which is a rallying cry for female empowerment inspired by Mercer’s three daughters. The song is streaming below.

When EW spoke to frontman James Mercer late last year about the set he said his guiding principle for the collection was a return to the DIY approach. “I wanted to do something more handmade,” says the 45-year-old. “I wanted to get back into the production and engineering side of the work as well as the writing.”

He also said that the most unexpected part of this recording — which he started 18 months ago in the converted carriage-house studio of his Portland, Oregon home — was that “there are traditional pop themes that I elaborate on on this record. I think that’s, to me, the most surprising .”

“Name For You,” along with track listing and world tour dates, are available below. Heartworms is currently available for preorder.

Track Listing:

Name For You Painting A Hole Cherry Hearts Fantasy Island Mildenhall Rubber Ballz Half A Million Dead Alive Heartworms So Now What The Fear

Tour:

March 2 – Albuquerque, NM – El Rey Theatre
March 4 – Pomona, CA – Fox Theater
March 6 – San Diego,CA – Observatory North Park
March 7 – San Diego, CA – Observatory North Park
March 28 – Paris, FR – Le Trianon
March 29 – London, UK – Apollo Hammersmith
March 30 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
JUNE 15 – Brooklyn, NY – Prospect Park Bandshell