Magneta Lane - Dancing With Daggers
I looked forward to picking up this album since Magneta Lane announced the release date. Unfortunately a couple music stores in Kingston didn't receive the album in time for the release date. I had to go on a search to find the album but luckily I was able to find the album. For people who don't know who Magneta Lane is, they are a three piece band that comes out of Toronto. French is on bass guitar, Lexi Valentine is the Lead vocals and Nadia King is on drums.
The first thing that I noticed about the album was the cover. I have noticed in the last little while that album covers have been a bit boring and looks like to me that not a lot of effort has been put forward. In my eyes this album stood out on the shelves in the new releases section.
Dancing With Daggers is Magneta Lanes second album and I hope there will be more albums to come. Their first album which was an EP was called The Constant Lover. After watching Magneta Lane open up for Sloan in the summer of 2005 I have become one of their many fans. The review for The Constant Lover can be found here.
The album was first released in Japan with 10 songs and a bonus track. The Canadian version of the album has 10 songs without the bonus track.
Bridge To Terabithia opens up the album. The song starts off with a slower guitar riff where I find the speed of the riff isn't accustom for Magneta Lane. About 20 seconds into the song the speed kicks up and the rest of Magneta Lane kicks in. I find that the song was a good choice to use to open up the album.
Broken Plates is the first of three singles that I think will be released from Dancing With Daggers. Broken Plates is one of my favourite songs from this album.This is the first song where the drums is the factor that makes this song my favourite from an album. The drum roll that Nadia plays a couple of times throughout the song is what stands out to me. Also the heavy bass hits that is played during the chorus that helps the transition to the other lyrics in the song. Magneta Lane made a smart move in making this song the first single from Dancing With Daggers.
Wild Gardens is the third song and the second possible single from the album. At the start of the song the guitar is played at a higher key that catches my ear. The way that Lexi sings the lyrics, it sounds like this song was recorded at the end of a long day. I'm probably wrong about the last sentence as in it could be the mood that was meant for the song.
22 is definately the third single but I think should be released second. I got my first sneak of this song at a concert that they played at the Grad Club in Kingston. Right away when I heard this song it stayed with me. The speed and the guitar riff throughout the song is the deciding factor. For some reason a few other songs that I like from different bands are ones that are short in length and unfortunately this is one of those songs. By the time that you are into the song it's almost over. The lyrics for the song are well written and have a point. I found that the lyrics from 22 can be referenced a little bit to a song from their first album The Constant Lover.
Daggers Out is another song that stood out to me. The start of the song reminded of the style from another band called the Architects, but Magneta Lane plays the start of their song in a lower key. Lexi has help with backup vocals throughout this song.
This is an excellent second release for Magneta Lane. With Broken Plates, 22 and Wild Gardens being possible singles that will probably be heard across Canadian radio Dancing With Daggers is well worth picking up at your local music retailer.
www.paperbagrecords.com/magnetalane
www.myspace.com/kissingiseasy