The Latest Work of Magnetism

Posted by chelseadavison , Jan, 2010 @ 12:20 pm

Today marks the release of the album Realism, the newest from The Magnetic Fields. The group’s frontman, singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt, says that the new record is a direct followup to the group’s 2008 work, Distortion… showing a softer (and slightly trippy) side to the band’s unconventional pop. Merritt said “I thought of the two records as a pair and I kind of wanted them to be called True and False. But I couldn’t decide which I wanted to be called True and which I wanted to be called False. They both have to do with the notions of truth and falsehood in recording and music—not particularly with the lyrics but with the production style. Distortion went as far as one could really go in the direction of stylized noise-pop, which is probably the limit of stylization in rock before it turns into some other genre. And Realism is folk, although I couldn’t really bring myself to go all the way with folk. I can’t stand the sound of an acoustic guitar for more than three minutes at a time. So I didn’t go really, really folk, I thought I would go in a ‘variety folk’ format, like a Judy Collins or a Judy Henkse album. Most of my favorite records are variety records. Distortion was one monolithic production idea and Realism is a more kaleidoscopic approach to a genre.”

The album contains 13 songs, nearly all of which are under three minutes long. Merritt openly addressed this aspect of the record saying, “I like songs short; I don’t go for big statements in general. I find it difficult to listen, say, to Beethoven. I prefer small cozy, charming, subtle things, not masterpieces and epics.” The songs are whimsical and catchy, though with a psychedelic childish element that evokes a strong “Alice in Wonderland” quality. Basically, Realism is a refreshing break from reality and is perfect for spring, children, and anyone looking for a soundtrack to their next acid trip.

Tags: album release, distortion, Magnetic Fields, new album, realism