MUSICAL LOVE PART 2: The Magnetic Fields

So, the last time I waxed lyrical/banged on about music was October 2012. It will be no surprise to anyone who acknowledges the cyclical nature of history that I didn’t make good my promise to write about more bands over the next few weeks, but I’m back now to talk about one that wasn’t even on my promised list: The Magnetic Fields.

Why? Well, because I’ve listened to pretty much nothing else for the last three days. And it’s not like this is a new enthusiasm - I first heard them during sixth form (which was… some years ago now), and own a copy of 69 Love Songs, their 3 disk concept album of short pithy songs about love: very experimental, and straddles styles like a bandy legged catalogue model. I’ve fallen for The Magnetic Fields all over again in a big way, which would probably make Stephin Merritt roll his eyes and give a droll aside given the cynacism and wit of the music. But it’s real Stephin: look, I bought my first band tee in 8 years for you:

Look! It has an owl on it! And yes, my hair is horribly unwashed because my boiler broke this morning and I only found out after I’d been for a run and… look, do you want to hear about my boiler, or do you want to learn about The Magnetic Fields? No, neither isn’t an option… look, shut up, I’m talking here.

So, The Magnetic Fields then. Clocking in at just under 3 hours, 69 Love Songs is quite hard to listen to in one go, but it does cross all kinds of genres over that time. There are two vocalists, Merritt himself who has an unconventional baratone, slightly camp voice which give the songs a certain dryness and gravity, as demonstrated on the wonderful Absolutely Cuckoo: 

And for a comparitively small number of the songs, vocal duties are handled by Claudia Gonson. Take the lead track off of their latest album, a cheery number about hiring a hitman to kill an ex and his new partner:

So, what do I love so much about them? Well, in its simplest terms I love clever lyrics, soulful cello and nice harmonies and The Magnetic Fields tick every single one of those boxes. Sometimes all in the same song, like this one:

I also love the sheer diversity of the songs. Wikipedia tells me that on 69 Love Songs alone the band play the ukulele, banjo, accordion, cello, mandolin, flute, xylophone and marxophone alongside their usual guitar and synthasisers, which leads to unusual sounds such as this:

I think though, most of all I love the underlying simplicity of the music. When they’re at their most stripped back (With Whom to Dance, say), they offer something very basic, but very human and touching. There’s no good segway here, but I couldn’t finish this without posting my favourite of their songs (probably - it’s really tough to decide on just one): All My Little Words (cello, harmonies and lyrics, remember: I’m easy to entertain):

Anyway, they’re wonderful. If you have Spotify and want to find out exactly how wonderful, then here’s a handy playlist I made: Lovely Magnetic Fields