Merritt originally conceived Realism, The Magnetic Fields' third Nonesuch release, as a companion to the group's brash 2008 Distortion. He was inspired by the orchestrated British folk of the late '60s / early '70s, which had evolved beyond the strictures of traditional music following sustained exposure to the psychedelic movement, and by the groundbreaking work of arranger-producer Joshua Rifkin on Judy Collins' In My Life and Wildflowers.