The Shins See Double With Performance of ‘The Great Divide’ on ‘Corden’

The Shins performed their new song, “The Great Divide,” on The Late Late Show With James Corden Monday, October 26th.

The group turned in a clever, socially distanced video with frontman James Mercer, drummer Jon Sortland, and bassist Yuuki Matthews all performing their parts from separate rustic settings. To handle all the instrumentals, each member used some video magic to double and play alongside themselves. The clip also featured a short cameo from one of Mercer’s kids, who wandered in holding a flower toward the end of the song.

Mercer also sat for a short interview with James Corden, where he spoke about being a parent in the age of Zoom school and the Shins’ plans for the upcoming 20th anniversary of their 2001 debut, Oh, Inverted World. He also touched on his support for Save Our Stages, an ongoing campaign pushing for federal assistance for independent venues that are struggling during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“These independent venues, the small, little theaters and nightclubs — the places where you go on a first date, maybe you met your wife at one of these places — they’re struggling horribly through this Covid era,” Mercer said. “The idea is to try and get some legislation together to help, get some of the stimulus money to go to these independent venues and just help them through. If we could get a year, then we’re gonna come out of this thing. And we want to return to normal life, but if everything’s closed, what do we got?”