Strange Powers

Overview

Stephin Merritt's voice mourns as much as it sings. His four bands straddle genres - Future Bible Heroes, The Gothic Archies, The 6ths and The Magnetic Fields - but his voice takes the same mordant pitch in each. Which is ironic, as his music couldn't be more varied; his masterpiece 69 Love Songs, for example, is everything that its title suggests. Now he is the subject of a new documentary Strange Powers, which is being shown at the Chauvel by Popfrenzy in a one-off screening on August the 4th.

The apparent contradiction of Stephin Merritt is that for a performer of such complex, expressive lyrics and melodies, his public persona is so dry and unemotional. Watching him being interviewed is watching him being profoundly bored, interspersed with rare flashes of passionate dissertation. Interviewers of Merritt can seem like neglected hangers-on, as you watch them scrabble for purchase in the dead field of his attention. But as far as indie rock gods go, he is the real deal; which is to say he's powerful, mercurial and doesn't care much for your approval. But if you want to see him at his most human, his most approachable, then Strange Powers is the place to start looking.