Stephin Merritt
Original Soundtrack for Eban & Charley
Merge
As if he wasn't busy enough pulling all the strings behind the 6ths, the Gothic Archies,
Future Bible Heroes and his most prolific project, the Magnetic Fields, for which he
recorded a massive collection of 69 love songs, Stephin
Merritt decided to add a soundtrack to his list of accomplishments. Written for James Bolton's film, Eban & Charley, the soundtrack is a moody collection of somber instrumentals and Merritt's signature, gentle bellowing.
The score begins with "Mother," a 40-second piano tune of desperate arpeggios, then shifts into the tinkling dissonance of "Cricket Problems," the sonic equivalent of a slow hop around a child's bedroom full of limbless dolls and broken music boxes. Merritt's baritone doesn't make its appearance until "Some Summer Day," a twangy tumbleweed of a song that lacks any hint of the sun. And to drag the listener further into the depths of despair, a plodding piano version of the traditional German "O Tannenbaum" follows.
But put down the Zoloft. "Poppyland" is recognizable Merritt in a major key with lines like,
"All your favorite things are painted on the wings of the butterflies of Poppyland." This
plummets to the mire of "Drowned Sailors" and the soft, dreary hymn of "Maria Maria Maria"
(only Merritt could come up with a line like, "Right about now your husband is raising Cain.")
But the jaunty mini-odes to instruments, "This Little Ukulele" and "Tiny Flying Player Pianos,"
are plucky pick-me-ups before the next dive, which is never far away.
Without scenes from the film to match the tunes, the soundtrack to Eban & Charley is a bipolar assortment that will leave fans hungry for another three-disc set — especially with tracks like "Water Torture" that serve as reminders of Merritt's rhyming prowess. In that echoing strum, Merritt tongue-twists,
Lorraine MacLean's strange paintings change the rain-stained Maine terrain.
Paint rain, Lorraine./ "Teasing bees is easy," wheezed Louise. "These bees are teased."
Tease these, Louise./ Jill's drill skills instill ill will. A shrill trill fills the hills.
Drill still, li'l Jill./ Jo-Jo knows the snow slows, no, no Jo-Jo slows the snow.
Slow snow, Jo-Jo./ Lulu glues two blue shoes to tutus to lose the blues.
Glue, Lulu, glue.
So, while the trembling rendition of "Greensleeves" probably trills at a crucial
part of the film and makes for a perfect complement to the actors doing this or that,
Eban & Charley's soundtrack won't do much for those who want every other Pantone
shade Merritt has to offer, love songs or otherwise. With a handful of very
short (the longest clocks in at 3:26) vocal tracks, though, it will tide over the faithful until the next release from one of Merritt's many musical ventures.
— Lavina Lee (lavina at flakmag dot com)
