I’m not sure if there’s an official way to discover the songwriting of Stephin Merritt, a route that passes inspection with all the self-appointed keepers of indie cred. If there is, it probably doesn’t start with the 6ths, the side project Merritt developed in the mid-nineteen-nineties after his primary outfit, the Magnetic Fields, was already four or five albums deep into their catalog. Nevertheless, the debut release under this name, Wasps’ Nest, was my first knowing exposure to Merritt’s handicraft, this mixture of sharp and sweet that found Merritt recruiting a small gang of cult favorite singers to intone his words over lovely, spare pop music. Though it doesn’t speak well of me to admit it, the album may very well have also represented my introduction to the likes of Mary Timony, Barbara Manning and Chris Knox. In that respect, it was a nice primer, I suppose. But the album was really all about Merritt.

The era was rife with tribute albums, both sublime and ridiculous, and Merritt supposedly conceived of the 6ths as a means (cheekily, one assumes) to craft a tribute album to himself. The more intriguing notion is that he was trying to push himself as a songwriter given the way the album flicks around subtly across a wide variety of styles. Writing for several different voices triggered Merritt to try out a range of approaches to the songs in a way that must have been freeing. In that respect, it’s an interesting precursor to his 1999 magnum opus, 69 Love Songs, which stretches his craft in beautifully exhaustive fashion.

Beyond the curiosity factor, Wasps’ Nest is plainly a lovely pop record, full of songs that deserved to insinuate themselves into the fabric of shared music memory. In particular, “Here in My Heart,” with Anna Domino> on lead vocals, sounds like the central soundtrack song to the greatest starry-eyed teen romance flick that John Hughes never quite got around to directing. It’s utterly transporting in the way of all the greatest pop songs that take up permanent residence in a music fan’s everlasting soul. So I don’t care what anyone else thinks. As far as I’m concerned, this was a great place to start admiring Merritt.

The 6ths, “Here in My Heart”

(Disclaimer: As far as I can tell, Wasps’ Nest is entirely out of print. I don’t think it’s even attainable through digital means, although I’ve hardly checked that with the greatest of rigor. The second and, to date, last album by the 6ths, Hyacinths and Thistles can be ordered through and then purchased from your favorite local, independently-owned record store. But if you really want to put some dollars in Merritt’s pockets, 69 Love Songs is undoubtedly the place to start. Even as I pile on the justifications for posting another person’s copyrighted material through suggesting alternate routes to provide them compensation, I acknowledge that there are individuals and business entities that can stake a claim on this song and might prefer it’s not placed here for free acquisition. I think it’s fair use, but I’m not going to fight anyone who asks me to remove it. On the contrary, I’ll acquiesce to any such request promptly and gladly.)