Arch, irreverent and yet always on the nail: the Magnetic Fields (left), and their sombre lead singer and writer Stephin Merritt, have an odd knack for combining pop with the pithiest of things.
And so, on the occasion of the New York band’s 10th studio album, themes include iPhones, abstinence (‘God Wants Us To Wait’) and, in ‘I’ve Run Away To Join the Fairies’, a mordant attempt to escape consumerism. There’s a lot to like, not least the fact that Merritt tends to write his music over cocktails in gay bars.
