The 6ths - Biography
The 6ths are the first several side projects for The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt.
On the first two Magnetic Fields albums, the music was composed by Bostonian Stephin Merritt and vocals were handled by Susan Anway. After she moved to Arizona, Merritt took over for 1992’s twelve-minute-long House of Tomorrow EP. Listeners were divided over Merritt’s less-than-melodious croak and perhaps no one was more negative than the singer himself. After its release, Merritt formed a project which would feature different guest vocalists for each song, The 6ths.
For The 6ths debut release, 1993’s “Heaven in a Black Leather Jacket,” vocals where handled by The Bats’ Robert Scott (although the B-side, “Rot in the Sun,” once again featured Merritt). Afterward, The Magnetic Fields released one more full-length for Feel Good All Over before moving to Merge, for another Merritt-sung album, Charm of the Highway Strip.
The songwriter returned to The 6ths with bright, poppy Wasps’ Nest (1995 London), which featured many highly-regarded singers from the indie scene. After its release, Merritt formed even more projects, The Gothic Archies and Future Bible Heroes. They, along with The Magnetic Fields, all released music before the The 6ths returned once again with chanson-inspired Hyacinths and Thistles (2000 Merge). It was recorded before but released after The Magnetic Fields’ momentous 69 Love Songs. That album featured several guest vocalists in addition to Merritt, perhaps making the distinction between that band and The 6ths a bit fuzzier. Perhaps that’s why, unlike as with his other projects, The 6ths haven’t released any new material in the 21st century.
