Jack Johnson has had incredible success since he debuted in 2001 with his first album Brushfire Fairytales. In the UK his biggest album to date has been 2005’s In Between Dreams which sold in excess of 1.5 million copies. Johnson’s 2010 album To The Sea was his third UK chart-topper and he’ll be hoping to follow that success with new album. From Here To Now To You is out this week and is Johnson’s sixth studio album.
Johnson has been busy promoting From Here To Now To You in the UK with performances at BBC Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park and the iTunes Festival. From the tracks we’d heard before release it sounded like Johnson had another hit on his hands. Now that we’ve heard the full album we’d say he definitely has another chart-topper here. Whilst musically Johnson doesn’t change all that much from album-to-album, there’s something irresistible about his sun-drenched acoustic-led songs. They make us wish summer was still here and not the winter that seems to have appeared before autumn got a chance.
Opening with recent single I Got You, fans of Johnson will immediately feel they are in familiar territory. The sweet track is perfect for radio and reminiscent of classic Johnson tracks. This time round not everything is as laidback as we’ve come to expect from Johnson. Shot Reverse Shot, one of the album’s highlights, is an uptempo number with speedily sung lyrics that is a little different for the musician whilst Tape Deck has a punchy beat that is seriously catchy. Forthcoming single Radiate is another moment that stands out on the record with its strong melody.
Fans of Johnson’s previous work will find plenty to love on From Here To Now To You. Never Fade is driven by intricate guitar riffs whilst Johnson’s dreamy vocals drift over the melody, Don’t Believe a Thing I Say is one of the more emotive moments on the record, and As I Was Saying contains the lyric that has been used for the album title and finds Johnson singing about not wanting to disappoint a loved one.
The album draws to a close with the rather lush Home which reflects on home being any place where there’s a sense of love and family. It’s a lovely sentiment and one that represents the kind of person Johnson is. He told us at BBC Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park that every song on this record is inspired by someone in his family or amongst his friends, and we can really hear that inspiration in this track.
From Here To Now To You features moments that mark progression for Johnson. Mostly he’s comfortable with his laidback sound that we all know and love. There’s nothing wrong with that of course and his incredible success shows that his fans love him regardless. We’ve said it previously, and we’ll say it again, we’d love Johnson to do something completely unexpected on a record one day. Until then we’re happy to pretend the sun is still shining, kick back and play this album on repeat.
