A small group of special guests were treated to a very special set today in Sydney, Australia featuring The Shins frontman James Mercer. Performing four tracks and armed only with an acoustic guitar, Mercer delivered two old favourites and two tracks set to be released on the band’s forthcoming record Heartworms (due out in March).
Mercer fittingly opened his set at Della Hyde on Oxford Street with “Australia”, a fan favourite – especially in this part of the world – off of Wincing the Night Away. The latest single off of Heartworms followed, “Name For You”, which Mercer acknowledged “got a little jazzy” in acoustic format. The track has already been released and you can listen to it here, though this is the first known public performance of the song.
The set concluded with the now classic “Young Pilgrims” off Chutes Too Narrow and the closing track off the new LP, “The Fear” – which has also leaked online, though had not been played live publicly to our knowledge.
Mercer is in Australia for a brief promo visit. Heartworms is due out 10th March 2017 through Columbia / Sony Music Australia.
Photo Credit: Vassi Lena / Sony Music
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