Magnus Eliassen - Second grace
(Monomegamy Music)

Lovers of the world, listen up. Norway's romantic troubadour, Magnus Eliassen, has just made a singer/songwriter opus that's about as filled with sweet, melodic, achingly lovely odes to matters of the heart as any record you've ever heard. And I'm not gonna suddenly get cynical or poke fun at it, either. The 11 tracks on this debut CD comprise a truly poignant, haunting song cycle that should connect emotionally with anyone who has ever been in love (or fearful of losing it). With a gentle voice that recalls Sondre Lerche (and occasionally Even Johansen/Magnet, minus the latter's weariness) and a singularly romantic aesthetic, Eliassen offers warm, folksy guitar strumming and touches of poppy electronics here and there over which he delivers one sparkling tribute/confession of love after another. "I wanna fight for you/But I don't wanna win/If I'm not the right for you/And if I am I always spin/I can't lose you," goes a verse in the largely acoustic "Grace." Eliassen's falsetto on "Falling in love" is exquisite, and sentiments like "You're so beautiful, I go crazy" that would come across as cliched or sappy in the hands of a lesser artist resonate with emotional purity here. "Write back," the paradoxically bouncy "Weakness," the closing "Until we meet again" with its intimate half-whispered vocal: they're all beautiful songs. In the melodic, jaunty number "Follow me," Eliassen repeatedly sings "Are you with me?/Will you come follow me?" You bet we will, Magnus, my friend--as long as you keep making exceptionally pretty, heartfelt recordings like this.
- Kevin Renick