After a long walk on the beach with his guitar, singing soft melodies about love and girls and…well…girls, Jack Johnson, in his new album “From Here to Now to You,” goes in a more introspective direction.
This new depth in Johnson’s music encourages respect, especially considering Johnson’s previous reputation for flirty lyrics earned by songs like “Banana Pancakes” and “Better Together.” In his new album, Johnson keeps the peaceful, plucky, stay-in-on-a-rainy-day rhythm we’ve all come to expect, but he mixes into it deeper, more thoughtful lyrics.
Maybe this is due to Johnson’s experiences as a father, and the effect of such sobering and grounding responsibility The sweetest song on the album is “You Remind Me of You,” an adorable lullaby that even skeptics flinching from Johnson’s sappy side will struggle to find fault with. In it, Johnson sings to his daughter, telling her “Forever’s how long your daddy’s gonna love you.”
Maybe it is his experience as a father that seeps through when he references technology in “Ones and Zeros,” condemning a materialistic world and the apathy it breeds in teenagers. Or maybe Johnson is just taking the opportunity to give us a piece of his mind, something he banks on in the rest of the album.
Through the gentle, lulling strains of guitar, soft drums, and haunting harmonica –– the last of which appears almost exclusively in conjunction with his forays into the world of philosophy –– his subject matter isn’t so restful.There’s an element of doubt in his songs, which could possibly contribute to the countless questions that surface throughout the album.
Johnson also admits he has made mistakes, and he wants to rectify them. His confessions are surprisingly fresh and make him more relatable. The strength of the music comes when he asks questions and gives listeners an opportunity to ask questions themselves. This discussion-provoking approach to music is typical of many artists, but new to Johnson.
“I slowly bend till I see the back of my own sins,” he says in “Ones and Zeros.”
He continues: “I stole my soul from myself, now I wonder. Wonder, is there somebody with a perfect plan.”
He speaks of a “vine” working its way into his life to bring perfect symmetry. Something is moving in Johnson –– something that searches for deeper import and meaning. He doesn’t offer many answers, which, though vague, keeps the music from becoming too preachy.
In “As I Was Saying”, Jackson reacts to marital problems in different, more mature ways than in his popular hit from “Sleep Through the Static,” where he croons that if he had eyes in the back of his head, “I would have told you that you looked good as I walked away.”
In “As I Was Saying,” however, Johnson takes a different tack, arguing that “This is worth saving because the sum of us is more than us.”
Again, this could be our peaceful guitarist branching out, or it could be evidence that the beach boy has finally grown up a bit and is willing to fight for something.
It’s not as if the old Jack Johnson doesn’t exist anymore. There are still plenty of “let’s sit back on the beach and get a tan” love songs that first made him famous. And in the midst of his serious songs, it’s refreshing to hear “I Got You”, “Washing Dishes”,and “Never Fade.” His more humorous songs include, “Tape Deck,” “Shot Reverse Shot,” and “Radiate.”
If anything, Johnson has not lost his talent for singing irresistible love songs. His repertoire has instead grown.
He seems to have become a more mature artist as his lyrics dive into more serious content. His willingness to tackle subjects listeners might label as taboo is both admirable and exciting.
The listener is left wanting more of his new songs, wanting to hear more of his questions, wanting to know just how much he has changed.
This is Jack Johnson at his best: giving more than he has given before, but leaving just enough to leave the listener wanting more.