25 Years Later: The Shins Debut With Emotionally Vunerable ‘Oh, Inverted World’ (opens in new tab)

The journey James Mercer took to arrive at the indie rock magic of Oh, Inverted World is as cinematic and enduring as the music itself. His band, The Shins, was not a collection of high school friends looking for an outlet, nor was it a preconceived grouping of musicians arranged by a suit-and-tie-wearing executive attempting to cash in on a trending yet fleeting sound. The whimsy and grace of Oh, Inverted World, though, were far from happenstance. Mercer’s debut album with the Shins has beco...