When it comes to The Magnetic Fields, there is no getting away from 1999s oft name-checked opus 69 Love Songs. Regarded by some as the best display of songwriting since ‘Greensleeves’, it is always likely to prove a forlorn task for Stephin Merritt and his bandmates to better it. However Realism does feature some fantastic lyrical flourishes among its often whimsical and ephemeral songs. We possibly could have survived without mid-album couplet ‘The Dolls Tea Party’ and ‘Everything is One Big Christmas Tree’ where precocity veers into irritation, but aside from those, Merritt’s unerring ear for a melody and witty line win out.
[etRating value=“ 3”]
[etRating value=“ 3”]
