The buzz surrounding Broken Bells started early, over a year ago, when rumors swirled about a collaboration between The Shin’s frontman and songwriter James Mercer and Grammy-winning producer Brian Burton a/k/a Danger Mouse. The pair were inspired to work together when they met in 2004 at the Roskilde music festival in Denmark where they discovered they were fans of each others’ work. Their first sessions, however, didn’t start until March 2008 when Mercer joined Burton at his home studio in Los Angeles.
The duo took a different approach to this collaboration than they had with their other projects: Burton avoided the sample-heavy style he used on The Grey Album and Beck’s Modern Guilt and played only live instruments, while Mercer broadened his vocal style to include falsettos and deeper registers.
On the self-titled album, the two musicians play all the instruments with the exception of a full string section arranged by Daniele Luppi. The 10-song record is a beautiful example of the melding of two talents to create a flow of new material that is distinctive yet filled with a natural appeal that makes you hope there will indeed be more.
Broken Bells will be available on-demand March 1 through March 30, 2010.
The album will be released on Tuesday, March 9.
Official artist website: www.brokenbells.com
Track listing:1. The High Road
2. Vaporize
3. Your Head Is On Fire
4. The Ghost Inside
5. Sailing to Nowhere
6. Trap Doors
7. Citizen
8. October
9. Mongrel Heart
10. The Mall and Misery