Lest we occasionally forget through overanalyzation, at its core, music should be fun. NO SNICKERING. If it isn’t, generally something has gone wrong. Either that or you just need some time away, new perspective, one of those old cliches. Well, it seems as though James Mercer and The Shins were somewhere between those two points after they topped the charts in 2007. Mercer even recently told NME things “had started to feel heavy.” The good news, Mercer seems to be having a lot of fun collaborating with Danger Mouse on their Broken Bells project, due out March 9. Mercer also seems optimistic about the next Shins record, assuring that it is actually happening (probably in 2011) in an interview with MTV. He even said the new record would be more up-tempo and “less melancholy” and “aggressive in a new wave way.”  A happy, aggressive Shins? The guy already changed our lives once. Are we really ready for it to happen again?! (Via: SPIN)