Magnet - Lay Lady Lay

  by Geraint Jones

published: 11 / 4 / 2004

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Review

This is a great version of Bob Dylan’s classic, here rendered as a duet with Gemma Hayes. If you’ve been missing the dulcet tones of Hope Sandoval and who wouldn’t, Hayes' contribution on this should help ease your suffering – the similarities are almost spooky. Even Johansen, who is essentially Magnet, used to be the singer/guitarist in Libido, but has been making much greater progress of late in his new incarnation. Taken from his current (second) album ‘On Your Side’, on this evidence the album sounds well worth investigation. Utilising a fabulous string arrangement by Sally Herbert and adapting the song as a duet with Gemma Hayes, ‘Lay Lady Lay’ is an impressive take on a classic song. Added to that is the bonus of the accompanying video, a deliciously fun tongue-in-cheek send-up/homage to trailer park-family dysfunctionality, that’s worth buying for in itself. There are also two exclusive audio tracks – the excellent ‘Wish Me Well’, proving Johansen is equally adept at writing his own material as he is at interpreting others, and a remix of album track ‘Last Day Of Summer’, which I can’t compare to the original having not heard it, but can’t imagine the muted funky guitar lines, bubbling bass and intrusive beats are an improvement on the original. But for two out of three excellent tracks and a genuinely entertaining video that’s worth watching more than once, this single is well worth looking out for.

Track Listing:-

1 Lay Lady Lay (Radio Version)
2 Wish Me Well
3 Last Day Of Summer (Tom Middleton Cosmos Vox)
4 Video Lay Lady Lay