Rating:

(Filter, 2006) The second album from Even Johansen’s Magnet moniker is one aimed straight at the college demographic, with its polished production, sensitive lyrics, and singer-songwriter aesthetic. Johansen is a Norwegian musician, but his music shows no hint of his background and he could easily be mistaken for an American or Brit. Each of the tunes on The Tourniquet is pleasant, optimistic, and eternally derivative. Magnet’s work immediately brings to mind contemporaries such as David Gray (whose patented electronic background pops up occasionally) and John Mayer. Granted, fans of singer-songwriters like the aforementioned, Josh Kelley, or Howie Day will find Magnet’s musical stylings right up their alley. Songs like “Believe” or opener “Hold On,” with their soaring choruses and heart-on-my-sleeve lyrics, are perfect for listeners who love love (or at least songs about it). The sappy lyrics of “Fall At Your Feet,” another of the strongest tracks, are fairly typical of the album (”You sing like an angel/I’ll fall at your feet”). Though The Tourniquet is neither a particularly weak nor a particularly strong album, listenable but not engaging and plain but not boring, it will certainly appeal to those that it should.

 1. Hold On
 2. Duracellia
 3. The Peacemaker
 4. Believe
 5. All You Ask
 6. Deadlock
 7. Fall At Your Feet
 8. Blow By Blow
 9. Miss Her So
10. Jaws
11. This Bird Can Never Fly

Buy album

– Kevin

This 25-beetsreview was posted on March 5th, 2006. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.