Jack Johnson/To The Sea______
On his fifth album, Jack decided it was time to rock – at least a little bit. In other words, Johnson, who has always been known as an acoustic performer, gives his legion of fans some new wrinkles on To The Sea by plugging in with his band and doing more then half of the album electrically. The extra muscle works well adding extra instrumental interest and some energy and groove to his poppy sound. In fact, Johnson positively rocks on “At Or With Me.” The title song gets a bit of soul out of its soulful overtones. “From The Clouds” has a bit of a ‘60s pop vibe and sounds like it could have gone in a doo-wop direction had Johnson chosen that treatment. On “You And Your Heart,” Johnson works up a pretty frisky jangle. Throughout To The Sea one thing that stands out is the simple chord patterns and melodies in Johnson’s music. Johnson may be risking alienating some fans that are stuck on the idea that he’s an acoustic artist with To The Sea. But it’s hard too imagine anyone not being won over by the simple charms of this unfussy, effortlessly
melodic album. (Brushfire)
