Future Bible Heroes - I'm Lonely (and I Love It) EP
(Merge)
Future Bible Heroes is a collaboration between Stephin Merritt and Claudia
Gonson of the Magnetic Fields and keyboardist Chris Ewen (ex-Figures on a
Beach). The band started when Ewen was in Boston both working as a club DJ
and using his synthesizers to write old school new wave, and Merritt
decided these new wave tracks needed words and vocals. Now, several years into
the collaboration, both Fields are living in New York with Ewen still in Boston,
so the division between words and music has become even wider, with Merritt
receiving tapes of fully completed compositions with no power to change the
recorded music.
While talking about the second track on the I'm Lonely (and I Love It) EP,
Merritt admits this band setup "is probably an abuse of my freedom,"
giving Merritt the power to totally redefine the mood and emotion of Ewen's
music. This song, "My Blue Hawaii," is "about summer and Hawaii," including a
tropical fruit roll call, but, as Merritt describes, Ewen's music for this
track is "sort of like Ministry... only interesting."
"My Blue Hawaii" is actually a somewhat old Future Bible Heroes song, existing
before their first and only full length Memories of Love. This is the first
released version because the band didn't think it would fit on any record, and
that is basically what this EP is, a collection of songs that wouldn't fit on
other records.
However, most of these square peg songs are similarly different than the rest
of Future Bible Heroes songs, so the EP does have some continuity and flow.
Most of the songs on the EP seem to be highly influenced by Ewen's work as a
club DJ. For instance, the aforementioned "My Blue Hawaii" has the rapid,
industrial drum machine drums, and the title track has a very prominent disco
beat. The last track on the EP is a dance remix version of the Memories of
Love song "Hopeless." The trapezoid in this group of square pegs is "Cafe
Hong Kong," the only song sung by Gonson, a very slow and mournful
(and not so good for dancing) song about lovers separated by war that never
will be reunited.
Last year, Merritt graced us with his collection of 69 Love Songs. This
release only has five (however, his side project for guest singers, the Sixths,
has a full length release coming in September). Merritt's lyrics
are as morose as ever and save these dance songs from being for only those
trapped in the club scene. So, though I much preferred the music from the
Heroes' full length (which I recommend enthusiastically), to hear Merritt
sing lyrics like "I'm lonely as Mount Everest and probably as high," this
EP is well worth getting.
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