The Shins are a band that have a habit of making us wait for new music. The Portland, Oregon act has spent the 2000s releasing albums at a four or five-year interval. The benefit of this is that when we do get new music from them, it’s definitely worth the wait—as was the case with October’s “Dead Alive,” and now with “Name For You,” off the band’s upcoming fifth album, Heartworms.
“Name For You” is a plucky, upbeat track about the hardships that women still face today. As the name of the song indicates, James Mercer sings about all the names for women and the things they do that society at large disapproves of or doesn’t understand. The implication of the song is that these names aren’t positive, but that the reasoning behind them is bullshit so you should pay them no mind. Give it a listen:
Heartworms, the band’s first album since 2012, is out on March 10 through Columbia Records. You can pre-order the album here.