Biography

The mastermind of the Magnetic Fields is Stephin Merritt, an urbane songwriter with a scathing wit, equally influenced by the Pet Shop Boys and Stephen Sondheim. Since 1991, Merritt has married sophisticated wordplay with elegant melodies and (particularly on his earlier releases) electro-pop arrangements. Ever the dissolute romantic, Merritt pens world-weary songs of romance gone awry. Sometimes he sings them himself, in his dry-martini voice, sometimes he employs the brighter tones of Claudia Gonson. Merritt has also invented other guises to present his songs, such as the 6ths and Future Bible Heroes, further utilizing guest vocalists.

Top Tracks

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• 100,000 Fireflies

• Acoustic Guitar

• All My Little Words

• Asleep And Dreaming

• Born On A Train

• Busby Berkeley Dreams

• California Girls

• Don't Look Away

• Drive On, Driver

• Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree

• For We Are The King Of The Boudoir

• I Can't Touch You Anymore

• I Don't Believe In The Sun

• I Don't Know What To Say

• I Don't Want To Get Over You

• I Looked All Over Town

• In An Operetta

• It's Only Time

• Kiss Me Like You Mean It

• Lonely Highway

• Long-forgotten Fairytale

• No One Will Ever Love You

• Promises Of Eternity

• Railroad Boy

• Strange Powers

• Suddenly There Is A Tidal Wave

• Swinging London

• The Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side

• The Trouble I've Been Looking For

• Too Drunk To Dream

• When My Boy Walks Down The Street

• When The Open Road Is Closing In

• When You Were My Baby

• You Must Be Out Of Your Mind

• Young And Insane

Discography

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• Realism

  Nonesuch

  2010

• Distortion

  Nonesuch

  2008

• i

  Nonesuch

  2004

• 69 Love Songs, Pt. 3

  Merge

  1999

• 69 Love Songs, Pt. 2

  Merge

  1999

• Get Lost

  Merge

  1995

• The Charm of the Highway Strip

  Merge

  1994

• Holiday

  Merge

  1994

• The Wayward Bus

  Feel Good All Over

  1991

• Distant Plastic Trees

  Red Flame Productions

  1990