home of magnet | media

press

On Your Side [awards/lists]

cover of On Your Side

CMJ | November 2004

Picture, if you will, cabaret-pretty Rufus Wainwright songs laced with glitchy Matmos squiggles and Richard Ashcroft’s solo bombast, led by Bono doing his best whisperpretty Elliott Smith impression. Drowned in My Morning Jacket-rivaling reverb. Jingle bells? Man, that’s some complicated goulash. But this debut from Norwegian supastar troubadour Even Johansen is also quite beautiful—bound to score as completely with Stateside mopers and atmospheric pop fanatics as it has back home, where he’s already won awards and warmed Nordic hearts like gangbusters.

[direct link]

Columbia Spectator | November 5, 2004 | By Bryan Mochizuki

The art of reverse empathy is what defines every great lyricist. From the Boss to Lennon to Buckley, the greats all possess the ability to make their listeners give a shit. They manage to write songs that are universal enough to elicit mass appeal, but specific enough to give the listener something to grasp.

In this sense, one would be hard-pressed to find a better songwriter in recent memory than Even Johansen. The latest in the superb succession of solo acts from across the Atlantic, Norway’s Johansen, or as the music world knows him, Magnet, knows particularly well the benefits of universality.

[full review]

Nylon | November 2004 | by Sujan Hong

Magnet, a.k.a. Even Johansen, hails from Bergen, Norway, the same city that gave us romantic wunderkind Sondre Lerche. Both have a troubadour air of innocence reminiscent of Nick Drake, but while Lerche warps back in time to seek out the songwriters of Tin Pan Alley for guidance, Magnet’s inspiration seems to come from more contemporary musicians. Sounding like Radiohead’s Thom Yorke crossed with Elliott Smith, Johansen has a maleable voice that can flourish amid grand orchestral arrangements bursting with horns (“Everything’s Perfect”) or mingle airily with gentle snare strokes and warbled theremin cries (“Where Happiness Lives”). “The Day We Left Town” begins like a number from a claymation Nordic Christmas special, until rhythmic hics and clicks begin to outnumber the bells and music box chimes. Unfortunately, the song loses some charm when it eventually explodes into a full-on cross-genre dance track. The use of electronic noises occurs throughout On Your Side, and more often than not they distract from, rather than enhance, Magnet’s already beautiful compositions. Johansen should realize that with a voice like his, he needs very little else.

[scanned article]

one times one | October 28, 2004 | by Mark Horan

Over the past few weeks I have had a love/hate relationship with Magnet’s On Your Side, which has just seen release stateside on Filter Magazine’s newly formed record label, Filter US Recordings. Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Even Johansen, aka Magnet, hails from Bergen, Norway, supposedly the rainiest city in Europe. Johansen is a superb musician with a pleasing voice who also knows his way around a studio. Never before have I heard so much ear candy on one album. Harps, horns, glockenspiel, string quartets and Theremins all compete to occupy a space beside the more traditional guitar, bass, and drums set-up. The first track, “Everything’s Perfect,” is a bittersweet song which utilizes a wide variety of instruments, all played by Johansen himself. It’s an impressive start to an album that has been widely praised in Europe, and I was looking forward to spending some time with it.

[full review]

The Daily Texan | October 19, 2004 | by Tito Belis

A troubadour with an elegant touch and a penchant for honestly gorgeous orchestral sound pieces, Norwegian export Even Johansen’s Magnet, has, quite possibly, released the most beautiful pop album of 2004 thus far. Lush, sweeping love notes sealed with a kiss, “On Your Side” is a more-than-charming folk-tronic offering that relies heavily on complex instrumental craftsmanship, impassioned lyricism and highly competent vocals to create the most intoxicating listening experience.

[direct link]

Rolling Stone | October 18, 2004 | by Adrian Zupp

There is great power in the ethereal grace of On Your Side, the first U.S. release for Even Johansen, a.k.a. Magnet. The Bergen, Norway, native builds gently rolling emotional waves in the fourteen tracks on this disc, drawing elemental force from understatement. The ingredients -- acoustic guitars, lulling vocals, electro garnishments -- meld into an ambient songwriting form suggestive of a range of artists but correlative with none. The surprising faux horns of "Everything's Perfect" are the sharpest sonic point of the set, while the soothing "Last Day of Summer" has a country-folk orientation but doesn't move outside of the album's spiritual center. Even a cover of Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" (with supporting vocals from the marvelous Gemma Hayes) is neatly refashioned to become purely Magnet-ic. Fittingly, the lyrics are suffused with evocative images that portray universal themes in highly distinctive ways: "The finger of blame is pointing at me/Cause I lit that flame and now it's burning me." Something special from the Land of Fjords.)

[direct link]

Pop Matters | October 3, 2004

On Your Side is Johansen's latest offering, an album of recollection, loneliness, and inward assessment that applies the lush, haunting Britpop with panoramic generosity. The songs are confessional and naked, wrapped in luscious arrangements that sop up tears like foliage on a forest floor. On Your Side brims with bounteous atmosphere and emotion, a spacious strain of string-spiced pop that expands under the direction of Johansen's space-cowboy-in-training.

[full review]

pulseweekly.com | September 2004 | by Nick Rose | 4/5

Even Johansen, the Norwegian folk giant who is Magnet, has a quietly creepy voice. On On Your Side, it echoes alongside his vast variety of Air-like effects, which float effortlessly in the background, swirling around the lyrical outbursts and the eclectic collection of horns, guitars and dry synths that pushes the world of this singer/songwriter into the outer limits.

Johansen’s point: There is no limit. Think about Sondre Lerche playing Air covers with some country guitars thrown in for fun. (I still have no idea what instrument is being played on Last Day Of Summer, but it sounds amazing.) Magnet is not just pushing the boundaries of what solo artists can do, he’s pushing for a revolutionary change in music.

[direct link]

the beat surrender | January 29, 2004 | by Kevin Trotter | 8/10

If you can get past the at times heavy lyrics, you’ll discover a truly great album that you’ll go back to time and time again.

A record of rare beauty that isn’t afraid to take you to the edge of despair, while at the same time having the ability to warm you, surprise you and ultimately leaves you wanting more.

[full review]

Plattentests Online | 2004 | by Daniel Gerhardt | 7/10

Schlaflosigkeit. Seit Tagen schon hat er kein Auge zugetan. Die Liebe hält ihn wach. Nicht die Liebe zu einer schönen Frau, sondern die unerwiderte Liebe zum Leben. Also liegt er da. Die Augen geschlossen, die Glieder schwer wie Blei, übermannt von der Müdigkeit. Und doch so hellwach. In Gedanken weit enteilt, und doch so verdammt hier. In seinem Bett. Er ist Even Johansen. Noch in dieser Nacht wird er auf den Künstlernamen Magnet kommen und ein Album darüber machen, wie es ihm geht. Wie es ist, allein zu sein. Wenn einen die Liebe nicht schlafen läßt. “Love is only for poets / And dreams are for the fools.”

[full review]

MusicEmissions.com | November 21, 2003 | by Dennis Scanland | 4.5/5

...The entire album is a pleasure to listen to and anyone who like the gentler side of British pop music, along the lines of The Doves or Travis will enjoy Magnet. Some of the arrangements even border on something Bjork might attempt (“The Day We Left Town”). Even enjoyed some success playing alongside The Doves, Gemma Hayes and Ed Harcourt, laying down a path for the release of this album. One unexpected highlight is Magnet’s cover of “Lay Lady Lay” with Gemma Hayes dueting with Even Johansen.

[full review]

Prefix | 2004 | by Aaron Foster | 3.5

There’s an old saying about there being bliss in chaos, and Norway’s prodigal son Even Johansen, on his first album under the Magnet moniker, is eating up every word of it. The eleven-track On Your Side is full of so much sadness that you can’t help but become comfortable with his maudlin look at life as each track unfolds. Like a sigh, Johansen’s voice trails like a cloud of cigarette smoke, flowing from a jazzy rancor to sugarcoated bliss (see opener “Everything’s Perfect”). All the while, his lyrics feel buried somewhere inside his chest.

Each track is elaborate in its construction, but by the sixth track, “Nothing Hurts Now,” the troubled troubadour has sought comfort in unveiling the miserablist within. But as isolated as the album feels, it’s supported by strong orchestration, giving songs like “Last Day of Summer” and “Overjoyed” a depth that can only be discovered and enjoyed after repeated listens. And becoming addicted to his album shouldn’t be a problem: The cover of Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay” (featuring Gemma Hayes) has already done the rounds for me and will continue to do so with its chugging delivery. It feels like Portishead on Quaaludes.

[direct link]

Gold Coast Bulletin | October 16, 2003 | by Danielle O'Donohue

MAGNET is the nom de plume of Norwegian Even Johansen, a sensitive singer/songwriter creating dreamy, slow-burning pop.

This album, Johansen’s debut in Australia, offers a mixture of sorrow and joy: lush, hopeful strings accompany lyrics marred by despair, while “glorious days” are soundtracked by the kind of music you listen to when you feel like you’re falling apart. On Your Side is about lovers leaving, summer turning to winter, and attempting to hold on to happiness – if only for a brief moment. At times it harks back to The Bends-era Radiohead but Johansen has incorporated the influences without ever letting his music be overpowered by them. In a word: ethereal.

Luna Kafé | July 13, 2003 | by Håvard Oppøyen

Even Johansen writes strong and catchy melodies, and he creates believable spheres and landscapes for his songs and lyrics to live in. I get this forest feeling a lot of the time, with elves and animals lurking in the shadows. This has maybe somethig to do with the cover booklet art as well. Magnet makes sure there’s plenty of warm-hearted melancholy, the music is airbrushed rather majestic and semi-dramatic, sometimes almost pretentious and pompous. But he somehow gets away with it head held high, with elegance and pride. Magnet also reminds me slightly of Travis’ quietest moments.

[full review]

Bristol Evening Post | July 12, 2003 | 4/5

Norway’s latest export, Magnet – aka Even Johansen – has been likened to several artists, including Radiohead, The Sugarcubes and Jeff Buckley. This album is full of doomed love songs, delicious Norwegian electronica, the pedal steel sounds of alt. country and Johansen’s soaring, ethereal, Thom Yorke-like voice. Among several stand-out tracks, a superb cover of Lay Lady Lay, with Gemma Hayes sharing the vocals, proves to be an added bonus. A must-buy album.

Express and Star | July 7, 2003 | by Alex Lingham

Stand out tune The day we left town does more in 3:59 than many complete albums. The word ‘cinematic’ has been over used in describing this former E.P. track; because it’s really appropriate. Elsewhere a cover of Lay lady lay (a duet with Gemma Hayes) is surprisingly successful, both voices blooming in combination.

[full review]

independent.co.uk | July 4, 2003 | 3/5

His debut, recorded in a pigeon-loft-cum-studio in the wilds of southern Scotland, is a work of sinister charm and beauty. Inevitable vocal comparisons will be made with Jeff Buckley and Thom Yorke, although Johansen’s voice is a considerably more gentle instrument, meandering across the rippling pedal steel, flugelhorns, trumpets, guitars and keyboards without ever trying to steal the show.

[full review]

Q Magazine | July 2003 | by Emma Warren | 4

Blissful Norse Pop. Even Johansen releases his debut on the coat tails of fellow Norwegians Royksopp and Kings of Convenience, and trips a gentle, aching line between the two. Like them, he make blissed out electronic pop that sounds like Simon & Garfunkel restructuring Radiohead’s most fragile moments, but then he adds something else – lap steel guitar. Where Happiness Lives is an anthem for prairie nostalgia, while the dusty-hued The Day We Left Town tunes directly into 50’s cinemascope. Even a potentially hazardous cover of Lay Lady Lay with Gemma Hayes proves an excercise in louche lovliness. Magnet will rock you – very gently.

Sunday Times London | June 29, 2003 | by Dan Cairns

AFTER three EPs of heartbreaking beauty and loss, Bergen’s latest export, Even Johansen, delivers on their promise. Confident enough to go out on a musical limb and operate away from current trends, he melds squiggles of Norwegian electronica, aching twangs of pedal- steel, a dolorous, keening vibrato unheard since Eric Carmen’s heyday, a Bjorkian eclecticism, the country-pop listenability of the Eagles and solo Don Henley, a Prefab-like whimsy and lyrics that chart, unblinkingly, the course of doomed love.

“I won’t pretend that it was the end of the world, ‘cause nothing hurts now,” he sings in a triumph of wishful thinking, his voice telling a quite different story. So good that a duet with Gemma Hayes on Lay Lady Lay seems natural rather than mistaken, and at one with its surroundings, this is a stunning, must-buy release.

groove.no | June 24, 2003 | by Ingrid K. Lund | 5/7

På On Your Side får vi elleve lavmælte akustiske popballader som beveger seg i grenselandet mellom country og elektronika – beroligende sanger av den sorten som gjør kjærlighetssorg lettere å bære. Den særegne balansen mellom tristhet og stille lykke speiles også i sangtekstene. Låtene har positive titler av typen Everything’s Perfect, Where Happiness Lives, Nothing Hurts Now, Overjoyed og Smile to the World, samtidig som selve tekstene gjerne er sørgmodige tilbakeblikk på bedre tider da kjærligheten fremdeles blomstret. Den tidligere Libido-vokalisten fremfører disse vemodige, underfundige tekstene sine med sløv, nesten søvndrukken stemme. Legg til en herlig skjelvende cowboy-steelgitar, nonchalant slentrende og forsiktig iørefallende melodier samt vuggevise-trøkk, og vips, så får du Magnet.

[full review]

oslopuls.no | June 23, 2003 | 5/6

For “On Your Side” er rett og slett en forbløffende sterk og vakker plate, der godlåtene regelrett står i kø, milevis foran hans debut “Quiet & Still” fra 2000. “Everything’s Perfect” heter kutt én her, betimelig nok. Mr. Johansen er i utgangspunktet en klassisk singer/songwriter som sliter fryktelig med kjærligheten – i alle fall på plate – men hans såre melankoli gjør aldri vondt, bare utrolig godt.

[full review]

VG.no | June 6, 2003 | by STEIN ØSTBØ | 5/6

Eksil-bergenser med sterk og dempet melankoli- slik bare bergensere kan!

Egentlig heter han Even Johansen og har bakgrunn fra Chocolate Overdose og Libido, men dyrker nå solo-karriere som Magnet fra den skotske landsbygda. Johansen serverer mye lyd på «On Your Side» – likevel makter han kunststykket å holde både tempoet og uttrykket på et lavmælt og innsmigrende nivå, ikke ulikt hva Bernard Butler i sin tid gjorde solo etter at han forsvant fra Suede. De myke, bredpenslede arrangementene kan også minne om Thomas Dybdahl og står utmerket til Johansens forsiktige stemme, og ikke minst passer de hans enkle, mollstemte viser perfekt. For det er som låtskriver Even Johansen skinner klarest på «On Your Side» – ikke langt unna mannen han gjør en cover av på duetten med Gemma Hayes, Bob Dylans «Lay Lady Lay».

[direct link]

Panorama.no | May 15, 2003 | by Ole Martin Hoel | 5/6

On Your Side er i bunn og grunn ikke veldig forskjellig fra forrige plate. De som fikk med seg den glitrende Quiet & Still vil kjenne igjen den myke luftige stemmen og de behagelige melodiene.

Det er noe som heter “never change a winning team”, og hadde Magnet gjort større forandringer enn de som har funnet sted her ville denne oppfølgeren kanskje ikke blitt like vellykket. For her er det mye bra å spore, til tross for at uttrykket har blitt noe forandret siden sist.

[full review]

gaffa.dk | September 15, 2003 | by Finn P. Madsen | 5/5

Ikke nok med at nordmanden Even Johansen alias enmandsbandet Magnet skriver nogle fabelagtige melodier i næsten klassisk regi, han er også en troldmand i et studie og forstår at arrangere, så det er en fryd for øret. Det er ikke uden grund, at Sean O’Hagan fra The High Llamas har ønsket at arbejde sammen med Magnet. Både titelnummeret og den smukke pulserende Overjoyed bærer præg af O’Hagan storladne strygerarrangementer. Men melodierne og udtrykket er Magnets eget, og her er han i en klasse for sig. På My Darling Curse giver de pulserende beats og det atmosfæriske arrangement herlige påmindelser om Talk Talk, mens Nothing Hurts Now’s rumklangsguitar og ekkoet af en mundharmonika sagte bliver belagt med strygere, som kun en musiker med et godt øre har potentiale til. Bob Dylans Lay Lady Lay med Gemma Hayes på gæstevokal bliver gjort til en ren Burt Bacharach-pastiche. On Your Side er af overjordisk skønhed, hvor Magnet vil få alle drømmere til at svæve på en sky.

[direct link]

Eclectic Honey | 2003 | by Michelle Dalton

...The soundscapes are cinematic, sweeping and texturally rich. Sometimes Johansen elects to beef up his simple acoustic workouts with the most delicately swaying of strings, while on other occasions he adds traces of electronic mumblings to inject some welcome eclecticism into his work. The singer-songwriter bracket is just too narrow to be applied to Magnet, indeed it’s difficult to envisage Magnet as a one man set-up at all; the complexity of the songs is far more impressive than most experienced bands even dare to create.

[full review]

Logo Magazine | 2003 | by Gillian Nash

Norway’s Even Johansen came to our attention early in 2002 via his superb debut EP, ‘Where Happiness Lives’, which provided the answer: right here. His outlook is shaped by the glacial pop of the country of his birth, and honed by the atmospherics – think The Delgados, Idlewild, Snow Patrol – of his adopted home in Scotland that places him alongside the singer-songwriterly types of Ed Harcourt but in a lane all his own. His voice does lovelorn like no one else’s, though his lyrics rarely do, leaving the impression that here is a man that could recite barcode numbers and make them sound like a yearning lament for a love gone bad. This is an odds-on favourite to be the stealth hit of the year.

[direct link]

Phase9 | 2003 | 5/6

Treading a fine line between autumnal whimsy and wintery melancholy, ON YOUR SIDE is an 11-song collection of gorgeous washes of strings, bubbling electronics and Johansen’s point-of-heartbreak vocals. Think Jeff Buckley fronting Björk’s “Vespertine” set, but with the emphasis on song rather than mood.

[full review]

awards/lists