The Magnetic Fields - Realism (2010)

Even though their music isn’t overtly challenging, The Magnetic Fields are fairly adventurous. They tend to throw odd combinations of instrumentation into their songs, are unconcerned with catchiness or melody, and Stephen Merritt is extremely sarcastic and bitter. “Realism” is predominantly acoustic, mellow, and this gives it the illusion of being lifeless when it stands next to albums like Distortion (2008) or Get Lost (1995). They aren’t at their best here, although fans will probably like this simply by virtue of it being Stephen Merritt and containing songs that are his, for what that’s worth. I don’t expect this to become anyone’s favorite album of theirs, but at least it shows they still do what they do well, and are creative as ever, even if that creativity doesn’t translate into songs as striking as their best ones. “I Don’t Know What to Say,” “Everything is One Big Christmas Tree” and “Seduced and Abandoned” are my favorites.

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