James Mercer formed The Shins in 1996 as a side project. At the time, Flake Music was Mercer's main band. That band ended in 1999, and the first full-length record from The Shins came out in 2001. The band became a critical and commercial success. Following the third Shins album in 2007, Mercer broke up the original group, not returning (with The Shins) until five years later with a new record and a new lineup. In between, he collaborated with Danger Mouse in Broken Bells. Now, after another five years The Shins' fifth album, Heartworms is out, with eleven tracks of creative and adventurous pop songs.