This album is his lastest release up to date. Compared to his previous album, "In between dreams", I personally prefer the previous one. This does not mean that "Sleep through the static" is not good. In fact, as usual, it is another great album to those who are into Jack Johnson's style or even if you've never listened to him, you'll sure will love it.
Music Style
Compared to all of his previous albums, "Sleep through the static" uses the electric sound for many of the songs instead of acoustic. However, the Jack Johnson's style is transfered briliantly into the electric guitar, still the simple strumming with creative rhythms and melodies, still the laid-back kind of voice, this album has everything about Jack Johnson.
Throughout the album, there is no up-beat tracks. That's maybe the reason I prefer his previous album, which brings the new perspectives in his music with a few upbeat songs. Secondly, the electric sound in this album somehow sounds more "doom". When listening to it, besides the feeling of freedom and emptiness, there are some sadness, some soul in each song played by electric guitar. I reallized this immdiately after listening to the fist track, "All at once". The feeling carries on in the second track, which is also the name of the album, "Sleep through the static".
In the last track, "Losing keys",which is also my favourite song in the album, it seems like Jack Johnson is experimenting something new into his music. The song has 4 verses and each verse has different melody and feeling. The first verse uses only his soft, whispering vocal and guitar that produces a great impact. I really felt like stting in an empty room with my heart and thoughts. The second verse starts with slow drum drive, bass and guitar. The melody becomes clearer with lounder vocal, just like my thoughts becoming clearer and then explode in my head. The third verse, another change in melody, tells me to let go these thoghts, what ever it is. Then comes the humming that clears my mind completely. Until the fourth verse, I'm completely fallen to the song, nothing to care, nothing to worry about.
Content
The album emphasizes on 2 topics. One is about love and life while the other is about politics and current issues. However, for some songs, the lyrics are vague and people can interprete them differently. The first to tracks, "All at once" and "Slep through the static" are about the world, about how we feel about it, and how we treated it. The third and fourth track, "Hope" and "Angel" bring in the feelings of love. Then the fifth track, "Enemy" brings in the concept of love and hatred. To me, this track is more about politics, when people raise war and conflicts because of their hatred. This mix of feelings carries on throughout the album. It is like a journey. It makes you think about your personal life, about your love and then brings your thoughts to the bigger scale, to poitics, to things happening around the world. Finally, the album free all of the thoughts itself in the last track, "Losing Keys", a perfect ending for a brilliantly contructed album.
Conclusion
As expected, this album is another great album that every Jack Johnson's fan must have in their collections. To those who don't know Jack Johnson, I would recommend you to listen to him, just buy any of his album and start listening. You will really fall in love with his music and wil soon have the full Jack Johnson's collection like I do.
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Jack Johnson's 5th studio album has been highly anticipated, not only because it's been a ... more
while since his last recording (In Between Dreams), but also because it's his first 'electric' (as in guitar) album. But despite being co-produced by JP Plunier--...
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