I hear he is, and soon. I forget who I heard this from, but I did.

A friend of mine said Mercer wasn't going back to The Shins until he was completely done with Broken Bells. I hope you are right though. The wait is too much!

By the way, thanks again for that private message.

Yeah no kidding! It really has been too long. I know for a fact that Mercer and Burton said that the Broken Bells project isn't going to just be a one time collaboration but already have plans for a second album. I don't know if that will mean that The Shins will be on hold for a while or not but I guess we'll see.

Also, check out this video of them playing The Ghost Inside live on Jimmy Fallon's show.

I mean, the Broken Bells are cool and all but I love The Shins so much more. I just hope he doesn't abandon them completely. At least put together a tour sometime soon.

I have that video recorded on my AT&T u-verse! I actually was able to catch the performance as it aired. Oh! If I am lucky, I will get to see Broken Bells this Friday at SXSW! Wish me luck.

your friend got a little mixed up its quite the other way around, mercer plans more for broken bells and less (well pretty much none) for the shins.

Pretty much none? Not what I hear. True that Broken Bells isn't intended to be a one-off, but new members have apparently been named for The Shins so it's not like they have nothing planned.

I got to this thread from The Shins thread since I like one Shins song, "Kissing the Lipless," and you made me curious about Broken Bells.

So far I've just heard "Vaporize," "October," "High Road," and "The Mall and the Misery." I felt the songs were pleasant and perhaps a little bland, with generally quite simple melodies accompanied in a straight-forward manner by harmonizing chords.

Maybe my mood now is just that I want something with more pizazz. Broken Bells sound quite relaxed and folksy, with occasional use of organ and a tamborine. As an example, consider "The Mall and the Misery." This song feels monotonous to me. An added problem is that the lyrics sound like gibberish:

"I turned the stone and found a brand you light
I can from no more words as I cannot dare see no drama
washing me over me."

I do like the "blooping bubble" sound they include in the song, though! :)

This is an album that grows on you I find. In some ways I enjoy this album more than some of the stuff The Shins have come out with. It's relaxing, and still has some anxiety underneath it to prevent it from becoming totally forgettable. I was really pleased with it.

I actually quite like it I mean nothing compared to the Shins but still great.

really? I think the Shins pray to God they can make an album like this.