It never sounded quite right to hear Natalie Portman claim The Shins could “change your life�? in one of the all-time great product placement/attempts at indie credibility during the film “Garden State.�?

Not that the New Mexican foursome weren’t capable of life-altering harmonies, but rather because the group has never seemed aggressive enough to shake a person from his or her routine. Had Portman handed Zach Braff a pair of headphones blasting the Sex Pistols, Pixies or Velvet Underground, it would make sense. We’d never question these acts’ capabilities to stir up some eye-opening emotion and wake us from our collective Prozac comas.

Not The Shins. They’ve always been too subtle, too delicate and too distant to change anyone’s life upon first listen.

But had Braff borrowed the record and listened to it on repeat again and again – instead of briefly in a doctor’s office lobby – there’s no doubt he’d be overtaken by the group’s knack for slowly revealing itself, and never be the same. It’s one of the film’s major flaws. How could a picture about patience and subtle growth overlook the fact that its signature moment lacks all understanding of how these two things work?

Fortunately, front Shin James Mercer gets it. And on his band’s third record, he’s also developed a full-fledged understanding of how to turn these exercises in incremental beauty into grandiose, sweeping epics.

“Wincing The Night Away�? is a collection of 11 gorgeous moments that add up to one larger-than-life record. On their own, each track is an experimental pop ditty, laced with fuzzy guitars, moody falsettos, and bells and whistles the world over. But together, these tunes add to a sum greater than its individually gleaming parts.

From the entirely acoustic “Black Wave�? to “Sleeping Lessons,�? which grows from muffled noises to a high-rocking crescendo, to “Phantom Limb,�? with its theatrical melodies and uplifting harmonies that are the most traditionally Shin-sounding of the lot, Mercer has become a master of the perfectly placed tempo change.

You can almost picture Mercer in the studio, carefully crafting the quick stops and sudden turns found throughout the bulk of “Wincing.�? And even with that “life-changing�? label hanging over his head, he and his bandmates sound uninterested in chaining themselves to those expectations.

That is, until you listen a little closer and realize only someone fully intended on altering some realities would painstakingly labor over every hidden note like this.

Derek Wright is a music critic for the Northern Star.