Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	79/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club	B+
Entertainment Weekly	B+
The Guardian
Los Angeles Times
NME	9/10
Pitchfork	7.0/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Spin

Wincing the Night Away is an album by the indie rock group The Shins. It was released by Sub Pop Records on January 23, 2007. It is the band's third album, and the last under their contract with Sub Pop. The album was recorded in James Mercer's basement studio, Phil Ek’s home in Seattle and in Oregon City with the veteran producer Joe Chiccarelli.

Chiccareli had become acquainted with Mercer while in Portland, Oregon, working with Pink Martini. At the time Mercer was recording the new Shins album on his own and finding that it was not going the way he wanted and at the speed he wanted. Frustrated and in need of fresh objective feedback he sought Chiccarelli's advice and suggestions, before the producer eventually became involved in a professional capacity.

The duo did not start the record from scratch; while they started some songs completely anew, they also retained some of the material that Mercer had been recording on his own. According to Chiccarelli in an interview with HitQuarters, they spent around two months working together on the album.

The title is a play on the title of a Sam Cooke song "Twistin' the Night Away". As reported in Rolling Stone magazine, it is a reference to band member James Mercer's "crippling insomnia". "Sleeping Lessons", the title of the first track, also refers to insomnia and was considered as a possible album title.

Before the album's release, Mercer announced Wincing the Night Away as the album title in an August 2006 interview with Billboard.

The full track listing was announced by Pitchfork Media on October 16, 2006. The first single, "Phantom Limb", was released on iTunes on November 14, 2006, and reached physical retailers on November 21. The new album was previewed in its entirety on the band's MySpace.

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Wikipedia