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Sound Opinions Presents: Broken Bells

Broken Bells was initially viewed by some fans as a side project for James Mercer and Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton — a respite from Mercer's leadership of The Shins and Burton's multiple production jobs, including his partnership with Cee Lo in Gnarls Barkley. But in a Sound Opinions interview in Mercer's home base of Portland, the duo made it clear that they never approach Broken Bells as a holiday lark. The meticulously arranged songs on the band's two albums – a self-titled 2010 debut and this year's After the Disco — demonstrate their commitment, as did their insistence to play a full-blown mini-concert in Portland for our interview in partnership with opbmusic. On stage, the band underlined the soul and psychedelia in their music, with Mercer nailing the falsetto notes.

Set List

  • "Control"
  • Watch more from this performance on opbmusic's YouTube channel.

    Copyright 2021 opbmusic.org. To see more, visit .

    Greg Kot cohosts "Sound Opinions” and has authored six books. He was the music critic at the Chicago Tribune for 30 years, and has written extensively for Rolling Stone, BBC Culture, Encylopaedia Britannica and numerous other publications.