Rating: NNNN
In which Stephin Merritt reaffirms his status as a postmodern Oscar Wilde with throwaway acerbic gems like “So you’re brilliant, gorgeous, and / Ampersand after ampersand” and “I feel as pale as Doris Day.” Each of the 14 dryly self-referential tracks on i begins with the titular letter (I Wish I Had An Evil Twin, I’m Tongue-Tied… so many “I” statements that it’s like therapy). It’s a vague corollary to the Fields’ heralded three-disc set, 69 Love Songs, probing the inner workings of Merritt’s hapless heart as he falls in and out of love. While less conceptually ambitious than 69 Love Songs, i smartly ditches the Fields’ trademark fey synths for instrumental chamber arrangements, with Merritt’s gentle ukulele strum and Sam Davol’s elegant cello lines soaring through tiny perfect twee-operettas, disco pop suites and watercolour blues weepers.