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The Shins

“Wincing The Night Away”

Sub Pop Records

More than two years since Natalie Portman insisted that The Shins would change your life, “Wincing the Night Away,” the band’s third full-length album, is finally nearing its long-awaited release date.

What many forget to consider, however, is a little detail of release dates. “Chutes Too Narrow,” The Shins’ sophomore album, was released prior to “Garden State,” the film that made the two life-changing songs from the first album famous, pushing the band to the forefront of indie sub-stardom.

That The Shins’ new material took a backseat for a time may be why “Wincing the Night Away” is the product of an unassuming band having some sorting out to do.

The opening song, “Sleeping Lessons,” is an open canvas erected as one of the album’s memorable bookends, building slowly off a swaying Zombies feel and flourishing into a space of pop-laden exuberance. “A Comet Appears” gently lulls the album to a twangy, twinkling finish, courtesy of a harmonium.

But that’s no testament to track-by-track cohesion. The meat of the album is composed of nostalgic Shins numbers arranged carefully in a blender with songs trying to take on a new direction.

The result is one which confesses an investment in safety for the larger part of the record. With songs such as “Split Needles” and “Girl Sailor” sounding too afraid for departure (wincing, if you will), a number like “Sea Legs,” Morrissey timbre and hip-hop beat alike, seems a shocking arrival.

This doesn’t make the album anything short of charming, however.

For instance, the band provides a quiet homage to the shorter songs from albums of old with the spooky minute-long strums and flutters of “Pam Berry.”

Tracks such as “Turn On Me” (akin to “Gone for Good” from “Chutes”) and “Red Rabbits” are catchy, vintage Shins, insistent on enjoyment.

“Phantom Limb” is the shimmering single of “Wincing.” It holds the album’s shaky balance together and introduces front man James Mercer’s more clever vocal twists, ornamenting the hi-fi production and developed textures that time afforded the band.

Whether “Garden State”-bred fans are already busy changing their lives with their umpteenth listen (the album did leak on the Internet well ahead of 2007), “Wincing the Night Away” is no magnum opus.

It is at once part struggle with new material and part good ol’ Shins fun which yields, incidentally, a delicate handful of beautiful numbers – and enough reason for Hollywood to keep up with their pace this time around.

E-mail Kalenderian at tkalenderian@media.ucla.edu.