Jack Johnson, the singer songwriter whose Pandora station is usually combined with that of Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat, has outdone his genre cohorts in his recent album “From Here to Now to You.” Johnson’s sixth studio album, and most arguably his best, was released on Sept. 17 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.
The first single released from the album, “I Got You” drew much anticipation to the release of the album. The album features 12 songs, with lyrics written entirely by Johnson. The album ranges from slow, laid-back songs to fast and catchy ones. Johnson has proven his diversity as an artist and clung to his uniqueness in instruments and sounds. Many of the new songs contain a range of instruments, from ukulele to glockenspiel.
One of the more upbeat and encouraging songs, “Radiate” is one of my personal favorites. This song, like many from the new album, has a tropical vibe. The lyrics are perfectly written and very uplifting, especially well suited for a high school audience. A more quirky and somewhat confusing song from the album is “Shot Reverse Shot” which is by no means a song you can sing-a-long to. The lyrics are uttered so fast and make absolutely no sense that it is most obviously a Jack Johnson song, who has a skill of making memorable tunes out of little logical sense. Though it lacks meaning, the song is a definite gem, and stands out from the other pieces.
The album is full of well-worded, memorable songs perfect for relaxing on a fall day. The charts, in this case, do not lie. “From Here to Now to You” is most definitely deserving of a number one rank.