Album Review: Jack Johnson speaks from the heart in the creative new record, "Meet The Moonlight"

Photo courtesy of Brushfire Records. Photo credit: Morgan Maassen.

Every once in a while we are blessed with a music artist that is able to bring us into their world in a way in which we all feel understood and welcomed by the same sense of home. It would be hard, if not impossible, to find an artist from the 21st century who has done this better than Jack Johnson. Since his first album “Brushfire Fairytales”, Jack has managed to infuse the calm and communal perspective of his Hawaiian home within his music without excluding those far from the water from feeling the warm ocean breeze when throwing on any of his tunes. Coming from the perspective of a musician who plays songs from all genres in venues of all types, there is no collection of tracks that seems to be as universally enjoyed as Jack's catalogue. 

In his new full length album "Meet The Moonlight", Johnson once again speaks from the heart and delivers an album with songwriting and tones that sound as if you're listening to him play in a friend's living room. The lyricism on this record is a reflection of Jack's reality as a father and husband in Hawaii, and with a perspective of watching this century unfold through his adulthood. The sonic character of this album, while reminiscent of his previous albums, are a fresh and creative progression upon his sound that grew from a collaboration with producer Blake Mills. The development of this album was unique for Jack in that he collaborated with Mills on the writing and instrumentation on every song, with the producer adding guitars, synths, percussion, and other experimental tones. Listeners will be happy to find "Meet the Moonlight" a calm and reflective work that is a joy to listen from start to finish. The album is a testament to good use of space within music, which allows for a sonic richness and soulfulness to come through on the recordings, while also providing Jack and his band the opportunity to up the energy and grooviness of the tracks when performing live. (We recommend checking out his performances of songs from the new album on Jimmy Kimmel Live.) Overall, we love this record and think you will too!

"Meet The Moonlight" kicks off with the beautiful track "Open Mind". The song begins with two guitars moving between two chords. Jack utilizes an open tuning here with a strumming pattern that is warm and embracing. The lyrics seem to be a very human reflection on the current and chaotic state of the world. This testament rings true with lines like: 

"Why we find it so easy to believe
In everything we’re sold, but we’re never going to see
When everything around us is begging just to be
Loved a little more, we can pray to anything".

The drum pattern is easy and minimal, allowing Jack's voice and the guitars to take prominence in the mix and the listener's ears to focus on the lyrics and melodic movement within the chords. 

Following "Open Mind" is the track "3AM Radio". This song showcases the input of Blake Mills' production on Jack's music. Like most of Jack's songs this tune features acoustic guitar as the instrumental foundation, but throw it on a decent sound system and a low (we assume synthesized) bass cuts through and provides the track with punchiness. Hand percussion and tightly mixed drums put low in the mix fill out the rest of the tune. These instrumental decisions were not the obvious choices for such a song, but everything works together beautifully and showcases the creativity of Jack and Blake's collaboration.

One of our favorite songs on the record is "One Step Ahead". The guitar lines and grooviness of the track make it feel like the track belongs on any of Jack's records from "Brushfire Fairytales" to "All the Light Above It Too". The vocal harmonies add a lot of depth to the choruses, and subtle choices like the amount of delay/reverb on the percussion and keyboard tones bring the song to the next level. 

"I Tend To Digress" is perhaps the most intimate song on the record. The song features Jack's voice and a couple guitars. The song brings upon imagery of looking up towards the sky alone at night and pondering the intricacies and existentialism of life. The song is honest, genuine, and personal; all the things that make Jack's songwriting so special.

Make sure to check out "Meet The Moonlight" and catch Jack on his tour this summer. We're very excited to see him play these amazing new tracks in front of live audiences everywhere! For dates and more info visit www.jackjohnsonmusic.com

"I Tend To Digress" is the Daily Reggae Song of the Day. 

By Chris Lawrie.