erhaps sadly, the first Magnetic Fields (yes, the band, not just Merritt!) tracks in four years come with Peter Hedges’ directorial debut, Pieces of April, this year’s best semi-feel-good Thanksgiving film as of November 10th. This unfortunate position is a dual loss; obviously, that the songs are relegated to a soundtrack and are given none of the splendor of a true album format, but worse, that none of the songs are actually used in the film. However, as a Merritt fanatic, I’ll take what I can get, and I’m happy enough that this isn’t another Eban & Charley.

It isn’t another Eban & Charley for a number of reasons. Firstly, as I mentioned before, the soundtrack is not limited to Merritt’s solo work; Magnetic Fields band members contribute to four of the five previously unreleased tracks, and the five old tracks are culled from albums by the Magnetic Fields and the 6ths. Secondly, this is a pop album, not a score; all ten tracks (which add up to a nominal twenty-seven minutes) are Merritt’s typical compositions on the subject of love, with none of the pointless noodling of his last soundtrack. Thirdly, it relies on the strength of past glories for half of its brief duration, which, needless to say, guarantees it a potency which Eban & Charley’s soundtrack had to establish for itself.

Despite these distinct advantages, however, the soundtrack is little better than its semi-predecessor was. The four new Magnetic Fields tracks, while good, add little more to Merritt’s considerable repertoire than a few catchy melodies, with scarcely a clever line to boast. They certainly have the requisite features of a Magnetic Fields track to appease the obsessive (at least musically), but there is none of the marvelous enthusiasm or wit of even Merritt’s less astounding love songs.

Deprived of a movie upon which to base my reaction to the soundtrack until yesterday, I assured myself that this was simply because the songs were meant to fit the movie, but clearly I hadn’t done my research, as only Merritt’s solo piece appears in the film (quite nicely, I’ll submit). Obviously, this wouldn’t be a problem if the rest of the album matched the tone of the new tracks, but two of the bounciest, most spirited Love Songs find their place on Pieces of April, namely “I Think I Need a New Heart” and my personal favorite, “The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side” (which, along with two of the other old ones, insignificantly plays as April prepares her dinner). Pieces of April suffers not only from its relatively unmemorable songs, but also from its total lack of cohesiveness.

Therefore, the conclusion is the one I hoped, as a fan, I wouldn’t have to make: the new tracks are good, but nothing special when lined up with classics from 69 Love Songs and, to a lesser extent, the 6ths’ Hyacinths and Thistles. Most likely, this does not provide any indication of the quality of the next Magnetic Fields release, whenever such a thing occurs, and this is for the better. Pieces of April is a better soundtrack than most could offer, but as a piece of work from Stephin Merritt, it does no more than hold me over for a couple months.