It’s been ten years since the release and success of the film Garden State. That film and its soundtrack of collected songs propelled the filmmaker Zach Braff and the band The Shins into popular culture. Now, ten years later, Zach Braff is back with a Kickstarter-funded film called Wish I Was Here, and it too features his favorite artists — the soundtrack includes brand new songs from Bon Iver, a collaboration between Coldplay and Cat Power and yes, The Shins. Here’s a premiere of that song, written by the band’s leader, James Mercer, called “So Now What.” It highlights the dreamy side of this wonderful American pop band.
Zach Braff told us via email, “It’s no secret I am a giant fan of The Shins. For this film, I asked James Mercer if he would consider writing something original; inspired by his first impression of seeing the film. Not only did he say yes, but what he came back with gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. He is a savant.”
Wish I Was Here, which has a screenplay written by Zach Braff and his brother Adam, is a follow up to Garden State in spirit though not in plot. It’s the story of a thirty-something father trying to find purpose in his life. Funding for the film was through a very successful Kickstarter project raising over three million dollars from over forty six thousand contributors. This was their way of keeping control the cast and the production of the film — not to mention its soundtrack — in Braff’s hands. “As a music lover, nothing has been more gratifying than collaborating on this project with my favorite artists. Between The Shins, Bon Iver, Cat Power and Coldplay … I never dreamed I’d get to work with so many of my favorite musicians on Wish I Was Here,” Braff wrote.
Hear “So Now What” by The Shins