Love at the Bottom of the Sea

Love at the Bottom of the Sea is the tenth studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields. It was released in the U.K. on March 5, 2012 by record label Domino and in the U.S. on March 6, 2012 by Merge.

Love at the Bottom of the Sea
Studio album by The Magnetic Fields
Released	March 5, 2012
Recorded	Los Angeles; San Francisco; New York
Genre	Synthpop, indie pop
Length	34:09
Label	Merge (US), Domino (UK)
Producer	Stephin Merritt
The Magnetic Fields chronology
Realism (2010) Love at the Bottom of the Sea (2012) 50 Song Memoir (2017)
Singles from Love at the Bottom of the Sea
"Andrew in Drag" Released: 2012 "Quick" Released: 2012

Two singles, "Andrew in Drag" and "Quick!", were released from the album.

Recording

The album was recorded by Stephin Merritt and Charles Newman at Bell Tree in Los Angeles; Mother West, Serious Business Records and Dubway Studios in New York; and Tiny Telephone in San Francisco.

It is the band's first release with Merge since 1999's 69 Love Songs. After releasing three albums relatively free of synthesizers as part of a "no-synth trilogy" (2004's i, 2008's Distortion, and 2010's Realism), Love at the Bottom of the Sea features the blend of acoustic and synthesized instruments that the band was known for in the 1990s. Stephin Merritt claims he took a fresh approach with the instrumentation, stating "Most of the synthesizers on the record didn't exist when we were last using synthesizers."[1] All of the tracks on the album are between two minutes and three minutes long, with the closing track being the longest at two minutes and thirty-eight seconds.

Release

Love at the Bottom of the Sea was released in the U.K. on March 5, 2012 by record label Domino and in the U.S. on March 6, 2012 by Merge.

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	6.7/10[2]
Metacritic	68/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
The A.V. Club	B−[5]
The Guardian	[6]
Los Angeles Times	[7]
MSN Music (Expert Witness)	A−[8]
NME	7/10[9]
Pitchfork	6.1/10[10]
Q	[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
Spin	8/10[13]

The reception from critics has been generally favorable, with the average critical score being a 68 out of 100 according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[3]

Track listing

All tracks written by Stephin Merritt.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"God Wants Us to Wait"	2:06
2.	"Andrew in Drag"	2:13
3.	"Your Girlfriend's Face"	2:20
4.	"Born For Love"	2:40
5.	"I'd Go Anywhere with Hugh"	2:08
6.	"Infatuation (With Your Gyration)"	2:14
7.	"The Only Boy in Town"	2:35
8.	"The Machine in Your Hand"	2:24
9.	"Goin' Back to the Country"	2:00
10.	"I've Run Away to Join the Fairies"	2:16
11.	"The Horrible Party"	2:08
12.	"My Husband's Pied-à-Terre"	2:05
13.	"I Don't Like Your Tone"	2:08
14.	"Quick!"	2:28
15.	"All She Cares About Is Mariachi"	2:38

Personnel

The Magnetic Fields

• Stephin Merritt – lead vocals on tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13 and 15, keyboards, synthesizers, guitar
• Claudia Gonson – backing vocals, piano, percussion, tambourine
• Sam Davol – cello, flute
• John Woo – guitar, banjo
• Shirley Simms – lead vocals on tracks 1, 3, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 14, autoharp

Additional personnel

• Pinky Weitzman – violin, viola, Stroh violin, musical saw
• Daniel Handler – accordion, organ
• Johnny Blood – tuba, flugelhorn, alto horn
• Randy Walker – vocals

References

1. Pelly, John (December 13, 2011). "Magnetic Fields Announce New Album | News | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
2. "Love At The Bottom Of The Sea by The Magnetic Fields reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
3. "Reviews for Love at the Bottom of the Sea by Magnetic Fields". Metacritic. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
4. Monger, James Christopher. "Love at the Bottom of the Sea – Magnetic Fields". AllMusic. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
5. LeMay, Matt (March 6, 2012). "The Magnetic Fields: Love At The Bottom Of The Sea". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
6. Jonze, Tim (March 2, 2012). "Magnetic Fields: Love at the Bottom of the Sea – Review". The Guardian. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
7. Wood, Mikael (March 5, 2012). "Album review: The Magnetic Fields' 'Love at the Bottom of the Sea'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
8. Christgau, Robert (March 6, 2012). "Todd Snider/The Magnetic Fields". MSN Music. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
9. Elan, Priya (March 2, 2012). "The Magnetic Fields – 'Love At The Bottom Of The Sea'". NME. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
10. Zoladz, Lindsay (March 8, 2012). "The Magnetic Fields: Love at the Bottom of the Sea". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
11. "The Magnetic Fields: Love at the Bottom of the Sea". Q (309): 101. April 2012.
12. Hermes, Will (March 6, 2012). "Love at the Bottom of the Sea". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
13. Walters, Barry (March 12, 2012). "The Magnetic Fields, 'Love at the Bottom of the Sea' (Merge)". Spin. Retrieved August 12, 2015.

External links

• Love at the Bottom of the Sea at Discogs (list of releases)