Jack Johnson - Sleep Through The Static (Album)

If you have spent the last few days, weeks, months wondering about the ways of life love and the world then get a hold of the new Jack Johnson CD and curl up on your bed in your most comfortable clothes and let his soothing voice and gentle music wash over you like the waves of the calmest ocean.

I had put this CD on hoping to feel lifted and maybe do some kitchen dancing, to my dismay I was initially disappointed. Jack Johnson has progressed from his boppy “Banana Pancake” Days; I accepted that I would have been more disappointed in him as artist if he hadn’t developed musically. Some credit to his development and progression would go to him now being a mature 32 year old father of two, as well as the tragic death of a young relative (whom the album is dedicated to).

Eventually I realised I needed to be sitting down or at least still and allowing the intimacy that Sleep Through the Static was demanding of me. When I gave in and slowed down long enough to listen and to let the lyrics wash over me, it wasn’t hard to imagine the feeling of lying on a beach far away having Jack Johnson and his band singing softly in the tree’s behind me

The Hawaiian surfer has long been known for his music creating a laid back atmosphere, however on this album he went beyond the relaxation and into deep meditated thought. The mood of this CD makes you want to be intimately alone with Jack Johnson discussing his thoughts, ideas and philosophy on human relationships, war and our existence in this universe.

Challenging typical global thought in the lyrics of his title track “Sleep Through the Static” Jack Johnson warmly invites you to question the morals and ethics of war and I believe specifically the Iraq war. This is evident throughout the whole song and it’s hard to pin point the best line to illustrate, the chorus echoes the cry of the verses though in saying “Who needs please when we've got guns? Who needs keys when we've got clubs? Who needs peace when we've gone above…we went beyond where we should have gone"

Unfortunately an exception to the tone of the album comes from “If I Had Eyes” which is the first single to be released, and though my craving for some kitchen bopping/dancing was satisfied I must admit I wasn’t overly challenged or stimulated by this song. I did get the feeling that this was a song produced to uphold his mainstream and popular music reputation. Lyrically it feels as if he has been questioning so long that he has almost given up looking for answers with pessimistic words and thoughts like the line “sometimes time doesn’t heal, no not at all...

The genuine Jack Johnson spirit is still alive within the rest of the album, and he reassures us that there is still hope. And the real and raw love expressed in “Angel” can only birth from someone who has questioned the menial and the everyday, but looked long enough to find something or someone that “Gives me presents with her presence alone, she gives me everything that I could wish for, she gives me kisses just for coming home

So listeners, I recommend; find a blanket, a lazy afternoon and someone to share the intimacy with or just share the moment with Jack Johnson and allow him to envelop you.

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