BY ARIELLE SPECINER
Daily Arts Writer
Published June 1, 2010
What does everyone’s summer need? A sultry summer soundtrack. And who better to deliver such a soundtrack than the ultimate beach dweller, Jack Johnson?
Jack Johnson
To The Sea
Brushfire
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This summer, Jack Johnson has produced an album so sea-calm and breezy, it was only natural to title it To The Sea. Johnson takes his listeners to an umbrella-covered lounge chair in the soft sand with rolling waves and sea salt-tousled air with his latest release. Such a scene should seem very familiar to a regular Jack Johnson listener — but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Rolling-wave beach jams, acoustic guitar-driven hum-alongs and ukulele-backed tracks are all common to the Hawaii native’s repertoire. The surfer-turned-folk singer brings on the mellow with ’50s beach-guitar twangs and sleepy piano plinks. Though the tracks may leave the listener in a lazy-day daze, they’re not lazily produced.
To reinforce his serene demeanor and commitment to helping the environment, Johnson recorded this eco-friendly album in not one but two solar-powered studios — revealing a healthy attitude toward the world that might explain To The Sea’s cheery and relaxed tone.
Luminous thoughts trickle out of Johnson’s sun-kissed mind and into a catalog of airy tunes. Easy listening for the easy-hearted seems to be the theme of To The Sea, just as it is in all of Johnson’s work. The first single, “You And Your Heart,” is the heaviest of the tracks but still captures simplicity as Johnson croons, “Why you gotta break and make it feel so hard.” Mellow reactions are all this Oahu local preaches.
With an attitude so blasé, it's no wonder that To The Sea doesn’t stray too far from Johnson’s previous work. And do you know why? Because he doesn’t have to. The hippie-notic surf sounds are abound on every record Johnson makes because he plays what he knows, and he knows Hawaiian paradise. Though some may complain that his work is too repetitive, there are others who commend him for the chilled-out vibe he has perfected five albums in.
Through the years, Johnson's sound has matured, adding pianos, harmonicas and heavier percussion into the acoustic-only mix. However, it stays authentic to who Johnson truly is.
To The Sea, though, hits one abrupt wave in its oceanic flow. The inclusion of the White Stripes-influenced “Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology” throws the album off course a bit with staccato piano pitches and choppy vocals. Nevertheless, Johnson mostly stays on his sea-folksy route with tracks such as “At Or With Me,” “When I Look Up” and “Pictures of People Taking Pictures.”
The album is not one of Johnson’s finest, but it is very likable. He produces such a unique quality of lightness and carelessness that while listening to his artistry, one cannot help but feel suspended in a hemp hammock, soaking up the salty remnants of a tranquil sea setting. Who wouldn’t want to be transferred to paradise? To The Sea is by no means a groundbreaking record, but it’s a fine attempt at effortless escapism.
A lack of effort, to some, might seem like a fault. But for Jack Johnson, simplicity is what it’s all about. Such debonair a life he must lead as he sings, “When I look up at the stars as I walk in the night down the street by my house / It feels good.” Now that’s chill, dude.
