Stephin Merritt usually writes in a bar, not a recording studio, the Magnetic Fields main-man tells NPR. Merritt's inaugural contribution to the noncommercial radio network's Project Song, in which songwriters are asked to write and record a song in 48 hours, shouldn't lead him to change his preferred habitat-- though the resulting "Man of a Million Faces" is admirable enough considering the less-than-ideal circumstances. NPR's All Songs Considered gave Merritt six images, six phrases, and a studio; the songwriter selected a photograph by artist Phil Toledano of a man covered in baby dolls, plus the number "1974," and then set to work.

What emerged is a midtempo tune about not some mythological archetype from Joseph Campbell's seminal book The Hero With a Thousand Faces, but a criminal with a face for every situation-- "No one knows what his race is," Merritt deadpans. In fact, the lyrics often exhibit bursts of Merritt's typical cleverness-- "Quite the psychiatric case is/ The man of a million faces/ Wielder of flails and maces/ Veteran of high-speed chases."-- even while lacking, like their subject, the kind of singular, memorable face that characterizes Merritt's most charming work. A vaguely sitar-like guitar solo pads out the song, which mostly relies on keyboards and shaken percussion; during one instrumental break, it's as if Merritt has succumbed to the studio trap of tailoring the song to the toys available, rather than vice versa.

Video:> Stephin Merritt: "Man of a Million Faces"
[The Magnetic Fields' new album, Distortion, is due 01/15/08 on Nonesuch Records ]