Long a fixture in New York City, Stephin Merritt has recently set up home in Los Angeles as well, and, writes Los Angeles Times staff writer Richard Cromelin, in a feature profile of the songwriter in this Sunday's paper, "his presence has enhanced L.A.'s creative landscape."

Already known as a prolific songwriter through his work with The Magnetic Fields (Distortion), The Gothic Archies (The Tragic Treasury), and many other projects, Stephin is now adding to his repertoire a musical adaptation of author Neil Gaiman's award-winning novel Coraline. Stephin's collaborator on the project, playwright David Greenspan, tells the Times:

There's a range of feelings and emotions that he's very successful at musicalizing. He's very witty ... and he has a wonderful sense of language. He can write witty songs and charming songs, but he can also write songs that are much more emotionally naked. There's a great variety to both the technical and emotional palette he works with.

Cromelin sums up Stephin's appeal this way:

Whether balancing the gravitas of his verse and voice against cheesy synth-pop or framing his theatrical exposition in folk-rooted formalism, Merritt's music is unfailingly catchy and propulsive, reflecting his fondness for such acts as Kraftwerk, Phil Spector and ABBA.

To read the article, visit latimes.com.