Jack Johnson’s “All The Light Above It Too,” disappoints with no sign of musical diversity.

By Juliana Coe McNamara

Staff Writer

Is one moon enough, if I can see?” Jack Johnson sings on his latest album. Jack Johnson’s seventh studio album, “All The Light Above It Too” was released September 8th, 2017 and is nothing new compared to his previous albums. This is Johnson’s first album released since his album “From Here To Now To You” in 2013, and shows no signs of him straying from his usual chill, beachy vibes and lyrics about the ocean and love.

  “All The Light Above It Too” resonates the same as his previous albums with it’s tedious tranquil lyrics. The highly anticipated album focuses on relaxing guitar strums and catchy, relatable lyrics that makes the songs pleasant to relax to, although the repetitive nature of the album bores audiences quickly. Although the album lacked musical diversity, Jack Johnson impresses with his peaceful signature style.

  Jack Johnson is primarily known for his work in soft rock and acoustic genres, showcasing his incredible talent with music in 2001 with his first studio album “Brushfire Fairytales.” Johnson is also known for writing singalongs and lullabies for the children’s show, “Curious George.”

  Jack Johnson’s band consists of his friends Zach Gill who plays the piano, Merlo who plays guitar alongside Jack and Adam Topol who plays the drums. Jack has almost always performed side by side his old college friends, considering he collaborated with Zach Gill on one of his first albums in 2007, titled “Roses and Clovers.”

   “All The Light Above It Too” emphasizes the need for love, happiness and the sunshine.A lot of the songs, such as “Subplots” have more of a hippie vibe, with soothing guitar strumming in the background, while other songs that are more upbeat and excited.

  Jack Johnson steers away from his usual tunes in“My Mind Is For Sale,” with a funky background beat and a retro sound. “My Mind Is For Sale” has a very cheerful and energetic tone, yet the lyrics don’t quite match the mood. In the lyrics Jack mentions negative things such as long weeks and not caring for others feelings.

   Many of the songs have a similar tone, focusing on happy and summery lyrics about sunsets and friends.  For example, “Sunsets For Somebody Else” is the perfect song to vibe to at sunset with friends. Johnson’s repetitiveness causes the album to be monotonous and unexciting.  

   From the film “The Smog of the Sea,” Jack Johnson also featured the song “Fragments” in his newest album. Johnson’s song “Fragments” is an especially dull love song with boring lyrics and acoustics.

   “You Can’t Control It,” another hit from the album “All The Light Above It Too,” starts out with unusual beats which eventually blend into Jack Johnson’s usual guitar strumming and casual singing. Among others from the album, “You Can’t Control It” focuses on insecurities and how to deal with self consciousness and emotional coping skills.

  All in all, Jack Johnson’s album “All The Light Above It Too” disappoints with Johnson making every song simple and sluggish. Although there was some musical range, Mr. Johnson never wandered far enough from his usual tunes to create diversity, causing the album to be quite tedious for some listeners.

   “All The Light Above It Too” was released September 8th, 2017 and is available for purchase on iTunes for $11.99.