The Magnetic Fields’ Stephen Merritt and Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold appeared on the East Village Radio show “Elia Vs.” today (April 30) to chat with host Elia Einhorn and play a few songs, including the Magnetic Fields’ classic “Book of Love.” Check it out below, and listen to the full episode here.
“Book of Love” originally appeared on Merritt’s 1999 album 69 Love Songs, which later inspired the 2024 Broadway musical All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich. Merritt celebrated the album’s 25th anniversary in 2024 with a series of shows where he played the LP in full alongside its original performers, Sam Davol, Claudia Gonson, Shirley Simms, and John Woo. The Magnetic Fields’ most recent album, Quickies, came out in 2020.
Fleet Foxes’ last album, Shore, also arrived in 2020. Since then, Pecknold has kept busy, releasing multiple singles, recording an NPR Tiny Desk concert, and dropping a live album. In February, he announced a four-date solo tour with opener Allegra Krieger.
Read more about 69 Love Songs at No. 78 in The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s.