Realism
For Magnetic Fields songwriter Stephin Merritt, there’s always an overriding concept at work. It keeps him interested and despite all their quirks, the songs stand on their own for a quick, easy listen. Yet, underneath the surface lurks an adventurous lyricist whose narrators are often vain, self-absorbed, brutally sarcastic, messing with your mind and occasionally glad to see you. *Realism* concerns Merritt’s love for folk music and its need to be “real.” In its place, Merritt orchestrates a perfectly plastic world where acoustic instruments tinker away (look ma, no synths!) and Claudia Gonson and Shirley Simms offer a beautifully sunny disposition reminiscent of the free-flowing pop of the Free Design. ”You Must Be Out Of Your Mind” is standard Magnetic Fields with Merritt’s baritone croak demanding subservience. “Seduced and Abandoned” throws the horns and banjo into a German drinking song with debts to Tin Pan Alley. “The Dada Polka” addresses “people of Earth” with a catchy chorus. “Painted Flower” and “Always Already Gone” evoke rainy day Parisian pop with perfection.
Stephin Merritt explores another aesthetic conceit on his latest record, creating a characteristically self-aware play at a "folk" record.
The Magnetic Fields’ main man Stephin Merritt claims that Realism is the clear-headed answer to the purposefully excessive fuzz of 2008’s Distortion. Sonically, that’s true. But thematically, Realism’s Big Idea involves expressing adult concerns over music fit for children, then reveling in the disconnect. Merritt and…
Discover Realism by The Magnetic Fields released in 2010. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
Withering put-downs and gorgeous tunes: the Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt is himself once more, says <strong>Alexis Petridis</strong>
For nearly 20 years, the unique singer-songwriter for the Magnetic Fields has unabashedly approached heartache and amore with a mixture of exaggerated bitterness, adolescent wonder and capricious, tongue-in-cheek humor.
The Magnetic Fields are an odd little band. Once considered indie rock heavyweights, a status arguably culminating with the release of 1999’s three-disc opus, 69 Love Songs, Stephen Merritt’s band has undergone a marginalization that’s left them mostly an old curio, a relic for already-established zealous fans. A lot changed between 1999 and 2004, and