The Shins release their fifth studio album “Heartworms”. Front man James Mercer was recently in Sydney and Melbourne to connect with media ahead of the album release. In contrast to 2012’s “Port Of Morrow”, which debuted at #3 on the US Billboard Top 200, #4 on the ARIA Album Chart and was nominated for a Best Alternative Album Grammy, “Heartworms” ushers in a return to the handmade. “Heartworms” is, as always, entirely written by James Mercer. However, with the exception of ‘So Now What’ (produced by Richard Swift), “Heartworms” is the first Shins album to be self-produced by Mercer since “Oh, Inverted World” in 2001.