Magnet

Biography

Even Johansen, also known as Magnet (born 7 June 1970), is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. Johansen started his music career in the early 1990s in the bands Chocolate Overdose and Libidō before forging a solo career under the Magnet alias. To date, he has released five full-length solo studio albums as well as several singles and EPs. Johansen draws upon many influences, including folk, pop, and electronica. His albums are composed and produced solely by him, and he usually performs live sets on his own, using preset loops or creating them as he plays.
Several of Magnet’s songs have appeared in television series and films, including "Where Happiness Lives" in Roswell, One Tree Hill, and Everwood; "Lay Lady Lay×Lay Lady Lay22 March 2004 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Lay Lady Lay3:292Wish Me Well3:093Last Day of Summer (Tom Middleton Cosmos vox)9:32" in Mr. & Mrs. Smith; "Let It Snow" in The O.C., and "Little Miss More or Less" in Six Feet Under.
The name 'Magnet' comes from his own childhood cure for anaemia involving a homeopathic, magnetic tattoo.

Biography

Even Johansen was born, raised, and resides in Bergen, Norway, but when he started his solo career, he lived just outside the southern Scottish town of Lockerbie.
Johansen was a founding member of the Norwegian rock bands Chocolate Overdose (1991–1994) and Libido (1995–2001), and some of the material he later released as Magnet was written during his time with Libido. His first solo album, Quiet & Still×Quiet & Still10 October 2000 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1The Recluse4:332Where Happiness Lives3:433Bullet to Your Heart2:484Easily Undone3:305Nothing Hurts Now3:506There's an End to This3:117Private Jinx3:328Quiet & Still3:379Dancing in the Moonlight3:4310Beautiful Day4:2411Home Song4:06, was released in 2000 under the alias Magnet (in the United States, the album was released under his real name). He gained attention when the song "Where Happiness Lives" was initially censored by U.S. radio stations for explicit language, and later featured in the American television series Roswell.
Magnet's second album On Your Side×On Your Side1 January 2002 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Where Happiness Lives2Everythings Perfect3My Darling Curse4Overjoyed was released in June 2003 on Ultimate Dilemma to positive critical acclaim. The album features Magnet's duet with Irish singer-songwriter Gemma Hayes on a cover of Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay×Lay Lady Lay22 March 2004 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Lay Lady Lay3:292Wish Me Well3:093Last Day of Summer (Tom Middleton Cosmos vox)9:32", which was later featured in the 2005 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Following European and North American tour dates throughout 2003 and 2004, Magnet signed to Atlantic Records for his third album The Tourniquet×The Tourniquet30 May 2005 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Hold On5:002Durracellia4:013The Pacemaker5:064Believe3:385All You Ask4:086Deadlock4:047Fall At Your Feet3:278Blow By Blow3:399Miss Her So3:4110Jaws3:34, which was released in May 2005 to further positive acclaim. In 2006, he contributed several songs to the soundtrack of the video game Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. His fourth studio album, The Simple Life×The Simple Life26 March 2007 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1The Gospel Song3:322You Got Me3:493Lonely No More3:054Count3:315She's Gone3:246A Little Happier3:517Navigator3:398The Simple Life4:289Slice Of Heaven4:2610Volatile4:1511Lucid2:06, followed in March 2007 on the Hermetix Recordings label, an imprint of Sony BMG.
Over the years, Johansen has toured with Phoenix, Engineers, Zero 7, Isobel Campbell, Gemma Hayes, Ed Harcourt, Stars, and Doves. He also provided a remix of Doves' song "The Last Broadcast," which was featured on the bonus disc of their 2003 B-sides and rarities compilation Lost Sides.
On 16 July 2011, Johansen posted a single to his Myspace page entitled "Doldrum Days". This was followed by the release of his fifth album, Ferrofluid×Ferrofluid2 December 2011 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Doldrum Days3:092Sister Sorrow3:113Bad Blood4:354Stay3:455Homecoming Queen5:376Fireflies3:057Pussyfoot3:078Nemesis4:429Together3:2310Reprizer3:45, on 2 December 2011, which was made available in Norway through iTunes and other retailers.
In September 2019, after a nine-year break, Johansen released the single "Deja Vu" and revealed plans of an album in 2020. The project did not materialise until December 2022, when the EP Shotgun Rider×Shotgun Rider23 December 2022 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Shotgun Rider3:082Manana3:543Weep & Wail4:164The Moonbloomers3:115Deja Vu3:41 was released.

Albums

Quiet & Still (10 October 2000)
On Your Side (23 June 2003)
The Tourniquet (30 May 2005)
The Simple Life (26 March 2007)
Ferrofluid (2 December 2011)

Singles/EPs

Where Happiness Lives EP (3 June 2002) (CD, 10")
"Where Happiness Lives"
"I'll Come Along"
"Heaviest Heart"
"Nothing Hurts Now"
Chasing Dreams EP (23 September 2002) (CD, 10")
"Chasing Dreams"
"Little Miss More or Less"
"Home Song"
"I'll Come Along" (Psychonauts Remix)
The Day We Left Town EP (21 April 2003) (CD)
"The Day We Left Town×The Day We Left Town23 April 2003 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1The Day We Left Town4:002Clean Slate3:533Where Happiness Lives3:374Heaviest Heart4:455The Big Black Moon3:23"
"Clean Slate"
"Dead Happy"
"The Big Black Moon"
"Last Day of Summer×Last Day Of Summer24 November 2003 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Last Day of Summer (album version)2Last Day of Summer (Tom Middleton Cosmos Vox)9:323Last Day of Summer (Tom Middleton Deep Dub)8:25" single (24 November 2003) (12")
"Last Day of Summer"
"Last Day of Summer" (Tom Middleton Cosmos Vox Remix)
"Last Day of Summer" (Tom Middleton Cosmos Deep Dub)
"Lay Lady Lay×Lay Lady Lay22 March 2004 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Lay Lady Lay3:292Wish Me Well3:093Last Day of Summer (Tom Middleton Cosmos vox)9:32" single (22 March 2004)
CD:
"Lay Lady Lay" (with Gemma Hayes) (Radio Edit)
"Wish Me Well"
"Last Day of Summer" (Tom Middleton Cosmos Vox Remix)
"Lay Lady Lay" (enhanced video)
7" vinyl:
"Lay Lady Lay" (with Gemma Hayes)
"Clean Slate" (The Bees Remix Edit)
Minus EP (29 November 2004) (Norway-only CD)
"Let It Snow"
"Clean Slate"
"Heaviest Heart"
"Dead Happy"
"The Big Black Moon"
"Clean Slate" (The Bees Remix)
"Hold On×Hold On15 April 2005 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Hold On (radio edit)3:452The Mute4:273Good Mourning4:314Grinder3:595Hold On (album version)4:58" (15 August 2005)
UK double 7" set:
"Hold On"
"The Mute"
"The Pacemaker"
"Good Mourning"
US Tour EP CD:
"Hold On" (Radio Edit)
"The Mute"
"Good Mourning"
"Grinder"
"Hold On" (Metronomy Remix)
"Hold On" (Lindstrøm Remix)
"Fall at Your Feet×Fall at Your Feet5 December 2005 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Fall at Your Feet2This Bird Can Never Fly" (5 December 2005)
CD:
"Fall at Your Feet" (Jack Joseph Puig Mix)
"This Bird Can Never Fly"
7" vinyl:
"Fall at Your Feet"
"Hold On" (Metronomy Remix)
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey Soundtrack EP (5 April 2006)
"Be With You" (previously unreleased)
"My Darling Curse"
"The Pacemaker"
"Nothing Hurts Now"
"Lonely No More" (30 June 2008)
"Lonely No More"
"Pennydrop"
"1997"
"Selfhelper"
"Deja Vu" (13 September 2019)
Single track, digital download only
Shotgun Rider EP (23 December 2022)
"Shotgun Rider×Shotgun Rider23 December 2022 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Shotgun Rider3:082Manana3:543Weep & Wail4:164The Moonbloomers3:115Deja Vu3:41"
"Manana"
"Weep & Wail"
"The Moonbloomers"
"Deja Vu"