Might as well believe in me

Magnet

In Oaxaca, after a couple days in Mexico City. Oaxaca is very nice, very comfortable and friendly. Also there was a parade of some kind. Or maybe a teacher´s strike. It wasn´t totally clear. Anyways, a little time off to talk about music…

I mentioned Magnet (Even Johansen) a few months ago, when he opened for Stars. I had never heard of him at the time and said:

The opening act was Magnet, which is a Norwegian named Even Johansen. I had never heard of him, but was pretty impressed by the show. He played a number of soft and slow songs, which reminded me of Jeff Buckley more than anything else, and a number of electronically augmented My Bloody Valentine-esque songs with quite a few layers of sound. There were really only these two types of songs, which felt a little bit repetitive, but only a little. More than anything else I was impressed with his vocal range and guitar playing ability. I was definitely intrigued enough to make an effort to find some of his songs and see how I like them. Also, he was pretty funny. And did I mention he’s from Norway? Who doesn’t like Norwegians?

Well, when I was out CD-shopping I came across his new album The Tourniquet, released earlier this year. It’s got a lot more of the gentle melodies and virtually none of the looping effects from his live show. The electronic background supplements, but does not overwhelm. At the forefront is his voice, which is silky and lives somewhere in the vicinity of the Chris Martins and Damien Rices of the world, though a bit darker than those two, I think. He also demonstrates a little bit more versatility than I originally gave him credit for. It’s a cohesive entity and the tone doesn’t change much, but there is some nuance.

He does an excellent job using minor keys, a voice that seeps into you like water through a crack, and a light hand on the guitar to create a feeling of gentle longing. Introspective, fragile, but not weak–these songs go deep inside and explore our emotional fragility. This is music that you hold close to your heart. In most places, it’s almost too intimate to imagine listening with someone else.

However, there are a few moments when he finally turns outward, the music expands to fill the room, and you are reminded of the world outside. His best songs traverse this divide freely, moving back and forth as the key or instrumentation changes. These are two of my favorites:

Believe
Duracelia

And, via his website, here’s an older song that’s quite pretty:

Little Miss More or Less

Want more? Check out Lullabyes to get the MP3s from his show at SXSW.