Cal in Red seem to be The Shins’ biggest fans. The sibling duo is gearing up to release their debut album, Low Low, on August 30th, with new single “Kitchen” featuring James Mercer out now.
Connor and Kendall Wright, who were originally in the Grand Rapids band Mertle, entered a cover of “Painting a Hole” to win The Shins’ first tour van in 2017. Now James Mercer, frontman of The Shins, contributes vocals to the breezy breakup track. Though a departure from Cal in Red’s usual sound, Kendall said he regards it as a “country song.”
“One of my favorite break-up songs is ‘Gone for Good’ by The Shins,” he said on BrooklynVegan. “I’ve always loved James Mercer’s ability to be so specific in his voice, to make something that feels like it came from an innermost place and still have it be so relatable and obtainable. We ended up tossing a Hail Mary and asked James if he would lend his vocals on the song and to our surprise, he said yes. Everything he added was gold. His ability to give a song exactly what it needs is super special.”
As for Mercer? “I’ve loved watching Cal in Red develop the past few years,” he said. “and after hearing ‘Kitchen,’ and the record, I was happy to get to collab!”