The Magnetic Fields

"Three-Way," the opening song on Distortion, introduces, in a deceptively exuberant blast of pop noise, the themes and obsessions of Magnetic Fields' eighth album. The lyrics simply consist of gleefully repeated exclamations, by male and female voices, of the song title. While "Three-Way" may summon images of Twister-like physical exertions in a situation where three is not a crowd, the subsequent material describes scenarios in which desire itself is twisted into dark, alluring shapes and love remains tantalizingly unrequited. Using a modest number of instruments, composer and producer Stephin Merritt creates a veritable wall of sound. He employs no synthesizers; instead, he generates waves of feedback that envelop every track like a spiky black gift-wrapping.



"I wanted to make a record of three-minute pop songs, then they turned into three-minute power-pop songs," Merritt explains. "The previous Magnetic Fields record had been self-consciously soft rock, with all the songs starting with the letter 'i.' The idea here was to make this record quickly and use the same instrumentation on every song. And if I had to use the same instrumentation all the time, what would I want it to sound like? Well, like the first Jesus and Mary Chain album! So I attempted to adapt the sound of Psychocandy to the orch-pop reality of the Magnetic Fields, where we have a pianist and a cellist. And the occasional accordionist."

-Michael Hill