The Shins to Self-Release Fourth Album

Keeping pace with the changing atmosphere of the music industry, the Shins revealed that they would likely self-release their fourth album through frontman James Mercer's Aural Apothecary label. While the band is looking to make a deal that will allow them to keep their masters, they're also hoping to partner with a label to help assist with the marketing costs, the Shins' manager said. That partnering label may be Sub Pop, who released the band's first three albums. "The Shins have been a huge part of Sub Pop's story. We'd love to continue working with them," the label's general manager Megan Jasper told Billboard. The Shins' next album isn't due out until at least 2009.

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Song Stories

“The Pretender”

Foo Fighters | 2007

This song wasn't part of the planned track listing for 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and was put together in a day. "It happened after we recorded a lot of stuff," said Dave Grohl. Yet it ended up as the album opener and the lead single. Grohl called it "a stomping Foo Fighters uptempo song with a little bit of Chuck Berry in it." The singer hinted at the lyrics' political overtones: "Everyone's been f---ed over before and I think a lot of people feel f---ed over right now and they're not getting what they were promised."

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