The Magnetic Fields

Warming up for a major Royal Festival Hall concert, The Magnetic Fields visited Brighton for this rapturously received show. Prolific founder Stephin Merritt is a songwriter’s songwriter, and tonight he shared out his compact, literate compositions evenly between his own rich baritone and the contrasting voices of Claudia Gonson and Shirley Simms. Performing acoustically, the group delved from current album ‘Love At The Bottom Of The Sea’ back through two decades of Merritt’s extensive songbook. Wit and heartbreak are constant bedfellows in The Magnetic Fields’ music, and many in the crowd were seen smiling even as tears flooded their faces.

Komedia, 24 April 2012
[Rating:4.5/5]
Stuart Huggett