Music Review

Distortion (2008)

The Magnetic Fields

Reviewed by Leah Greenblatt | Jan 11, 2008

Leah Greenblatt

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EW's GRADE

A-

Details Release Date: Jan 15, 2008; Lead Performance: The Magnetic Fields; Genre: Pop

Image credit: Chris Buck

MAGNETIC FIELDS New CD Distortion, another lovely contradiction

Stephin Merritt, the wry, sonorous bard of downtown New York, has made yet another lovely contradiction of an album, Distortion, both wintry and lush, buoyant and black-hearted. Poetic sentiments like ''Sober life is a prison/S---faced it is a blessing'' (''Too Drunk to Dream'') and ''I want to be a topless waitress/I want my mother to shed one tear'' (''The Nun's Litany'') are wrapped in woolly layers of Pet Sounds swoon and shot through with jangling boy-girl harmonies — the perfect antidote to a season of false cheer and frozen toes. A-
DOWNLOAD THIS: Stream ''Please Stop Dancing'' at the Magnetic Fields' MySpace

Originally posted Jan 11, 2008 Published in issue #974 Jan 18, 2008 Order article reprints

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