Stephen Merritt of The Magnetic Fields and Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes graced the East Village Radio show “Elia Vs.” today (April 30) for a chat with host Elia Einhorn and a live performance of Merritt's classic “Book Of Love.” Because nothing says fresh content like a quarter-century-old love song.
The track originally appeared on Merritt's 1999 album 69 Love Songs, a record that has been reissued on vinyl in 2010 and 2015, and somehow also spawned 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 - proving that even in a pandemic, Merritt can't stop writing songs about love, or whatever.
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, which will see him traverse the East Coast before closing things out with a Judee Sill tribute show in New York. Because apparently, even indie rockers need a reason to get out of the house.