After being hailed as the next Cole Porter for well over a decade, the Magnetic Fields' tunesmith Stephin Merritt has turned for inspiration to noise-drenched 1980s U.K. rockers the Jesus & Mary Chain. Although the change is mostly skin-deep, it makes for the urbane New York crooner's best album since landmark 1999 triple-album 69 Love Songs. Merritt likes unwieldy concepts -- every song title on 2004's uneven i starts with that letter. Distortion is full of, surprise, distortion, with even the cello and accordion screeching into feedback. Opener "Three-Way" announces the Magnetic Fields' noisier turn with garage-rock guitar, echoey piano and no lyrics other than the title. Still, Distortion's songs remain more about lyrics and melody than the Jesus & Mary Chain's dreamy noisescapes. Lyrically, Merritt is in fine form, though he doesn't quite match the best of 69 Love Songs or his mid-1990s peak. In his mournful baritone, Merritt sings of booze ("Too Drunk to Dream"), offers an anti-Christmas carol ("Mr. Misteltoe") and an anti-Beach Boys song ("California Girls") and, of course, gets depressed about love ("Old Fools," "Please Stop Dancing"). Guest vocals from Shirley Simms add some nice variety on the hilarious "The Nun's Litany," among other songs. Distortion shows Merritt hasn't changed as much as he might like us to believe -- and that's mostly good news.

-- Marc Hogan