Magnetic Fields - Distortion

By Contributing Writer Eric Cordeiro

The Magnetic Fields have just released their eighth record, Distortion, on Nonesuch Records.  Over the last 15 years, the primary songwriter, Stephen Merritt has lyrically explored love and loss with clever and terrifying results. This record is one of their best and yet I can’t fucking stand it.

Stephen Merritt is actually tackling this record using Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain as reference point. Psychocandy exemplified the best marriage between pop melody and intentional dissonance and in my opinionshould be taught in schools as the blueprint for best debut record in rock history. Merritt declared it as the last great achievement in music production and took that as his lead to make a record steeped in fuzz.Distortion is not just a clever name.

Merritt’s trademark elements are all present here.  Lyrical cleverness, delivered with Merritt’s deadpan drone trading songs with playful female vocals, all on top of pretty melodies. Like a photographer smudging the edges of a lens, the hum of feedback adds a dimension that has not been present in past releases. Merritt’s voice is more powerful surrounded by the warm buzz.

In fact everything is much stronger with the frayed edges. The Magnetic Fields are great at singing songs that make you happy for all the wrong reasons. Without looking back, Distortion gives us anthemic rock songs about ménage a trois (“Three Way”) and ironical “fuck you” love songs (“Too Drunk to Dream”). A pop song that encourages alcoholism to cope after a bad relationship can be a little difficult to listen to repeatedly, but Merritt has no problem using his vulnerability to illustrate the individual’s own fears and desires. It is this same quality that makes it so difficult to love him and his band.

To his credit, Merritt and company have always delivered quality with a different modus operandi, spoiling their fans in the process.  We expect this high quality from him, yet we feel that something this good must not be real. We end up asking questions that should never be asked of any artist.  Why should we fall in love with you when we don’t know what you want? Can you ever be sure that the relationship will be worth it?  Merritt asks a lot from his listeners. If we are willing to follow Merritt to that place, why does it feel like we will find ourselves alone the next morning? Like the boy everyone was warned about, you wish you could take him home to meet your parents.

But it is unfair to hold Merritt and company responsible for our own insecurities. These are only pop songs; some of the best to be released this year. They just happen to remind us why it was better to love and lose than to never have loved at all.