Although they began as a two-piece in 1991 recording minimalist, electronic pop, by the mid-'90s The Magnetic Fields had an average of six members. Though the line-up would shift at the will of the group's leader, Stephin Merritt, they consistently focused on unconventional rock instrumentation such as ukulele and accordion, with songwriting that took unlikely inspiration from vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley. A seminal indie pop group, The Magnetic Fields have tended towards the cerebral, at times focusing heavily on very specific musical concepts, like with their three-disc release 69 Love Songs.