is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the songwriter and principal singer of the bands the Magnetic Fields, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. He is known for his distinctive and untrained bass voice
Merritt has been acclaimed for his lyrics, which have been described as "romantic", "humorous", and "literary", and he has been called an "insightful lyricist" and a "brilliant wordsmith".At other times, writers have emphasized the unhappiness of his lyrics. In September 2005, an interviewer quoted an anonymous reviewer to Bob Mould that Mould was "the most depressed man in rock." Mould's response was "He's never met Stephin Merritt, obviously."
Unlike most singer-songwriters, Merritt rarely writes autobiographical songs and does not consider songwriting to be emotionally expressive but an exercise in craft, carried out for its own pleasure.His albums generally have a lyrical theme; for instance, The Charm of the Highway Strip is imitation country music. He has stated that he finds writing lyrics with constraints easier. Merritt's preferred method of writing songs involves spending several hours sitting in gay bars "one-third full of cranky old gay men gossiping over thumping disco music" with a glass of cognac, which provides him with inspiration for lyrics.
Critics have also praised his tunes and production, calling him a "master melody-writer" and "an arduous studio rat". Some albums also have musical themes: for instance, the Magnetic Fields album Distortion is feedback-rich mix of noise and pop, and it, i, and Realism make a "trilogy" of records without synthesizers. In contrast, their next album, Love at the Bottom of the Sea, used synthesizers extensively. Throughout Merritt's career, he has changed styles frequently, and uses a wide variety of instruments on his records.
