Magnet - The Tourniquet
Apart from serving as immensely melodramatic teen drama, the O.C is also renowned for picking up on the best new music around. The show featured a performance from The Killers right before they exploded into the charts and Even Johansen aka Magnet has also helped to find success through the realms of this television programme.
The Tourniquet is the second full length UK release from the Norwegian Magnet after the critical success of his debut album On Your Side. There is something timeless about the sound of this album, a classic element is present but in terms of modern day artists Magnet is reminiscent of a blend between Radiohead and an acoustic Muse.
The album opens with the first single 'Hold On' which sets the tone for a collection of haunting and beautiful melodic ballads. Jason Faulkner who has previously worked with artists such as Beck and Air produced the album, and he has done a superb job on placing raw emotions onto a slightly surrealist hypnotic background.
The Tourniquet is a continuous flow of stripped down honesty. Essentially an album about love, the lyrics are beautiful without sounding pretentious or nauseating...'Only you can hold me like a tourniquet and make me stay here with you'. There is hopefulness hidden with the songs that prevent it from becoming too sombre or whining.
There is nothing to fault here with this reflective melancholic album, each song is as good as the last, but throughout this emotional journey tracks such as 'The Pacemaker', 'Fall At Your Feet' and 'Blow by Blow' stood out as potential singles.
Despite being Scandinavian, Magnet does not sound it, so you will not find the quirkiness that you often do with foreign artists north of the border like Bjork. This leaves you to focus 100% on the music which is in this case is by no means a difficult task. Magnet is an extremely talented songwriter, there is no doubt about it.
The best way I can think of to describe this release from Magnet is the calm before the storm. The calm being the reflective tone of this album, and the storm that will surround it when the rest of the world realise how amazing it is.
Do yourself a favour and instead of listening to whiny Coldplay and Travis types, buy this album instead.