The Lincoln Log

The aspects of love, life and destruction are once again unpacked in insightful songs from Jack Johnson’s new CD, Sleep through the Static. The chart topping, guitar playing, surfer delivers a soothing album that doesn’t only sound good, but reflects on life; in all its chaos and joy, that is if it doesn’t coo you to sleep.

Jack Johnson’s CDs are usually a somewhat balanced variation of slow tempo beach music, melodic acoustic combinations and an abundance of thought-provoking immersive lyrics. The combinations of these virtuoso qualities are just a few that have given Jack Johnson his success with his previous albums, Brush Fire Fairytale (2001) and In Between Dreams (2003). Sadly, despite my abundance of love for the artist, he falls slightly short of greatness with his new album, Sleep through the Static.

Jack Johnson literally pours his heart into his music, making a majority of his songs dedicated to his wife and children. But unlike his past albums, this CD has a tendency to become dull. On previous albums, Jack Johnson has mixed up his tracks between relaxed songs and more up-tempo songs. This album seems to be a long list of humdrum melodies with some pretty amazing lyrics. The only mixed up tempos of this CD was songs, “If I Had Eyes” and “Hope”. But even the two can’t be classified as upbeat.

Jack Johnson’s new album may not be a five star Grammy winner, but it is still worth buying. The music is amazingly relaxing, beautiful and filled with talent. I give the album 3 stars; just don’t listen to it when you’re tired.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars