James Mercer has admitted that he took a break from The Shins because he was "exhausted" from his work with the band.
Mercer, who is about to release an album with Danger Mouse under the guise of Broken Bells, said that the collaboration had appealed to him as a way of lessening the creative burden he felt in The Shins.
"I think I had just been doing the same thing, you know, for so long and wanted to do something new," said the singer. "I was getting a little bit exhausted over having so much responsibility over the success of the records and everything, so I wanted to collaborate and see what it was like to work with somebody on an equal footing.
"It puts you in a situation where all you have to do is come up with ideas and be creative."
However, he did reveal that he plans to work on new material for The Shins this year, even if the album isn’t released in 2011.
He said: "The main thing I’ll be doing is promoting this [Broken Bells] record, but in between I’ll be writing songs and recording stuff probably later on in the year, but it won’t come out until next year."
Coming soon: A Quietus interview with James Mercer and Danger Mouse aka Broken Bells
