UNIVERSAL

Winning sounds

Jack Johnson’s new CD is
excellent from beginning
to end

If there is a visual distillation of Jack Johnson's music nowadays, you needn't look further than the cover photo of his latest, and best album to date, "In Between Dreams."

"In Between Dreams" Jack Johnson (Brushfire Records/Universal)

A silhouetted Johnson reaches up to a branch of a large kamani tree that delineates the shoreline, his beloved ocean on the other side. To me, it shows that Johnson is looking at the bigger picture of life -- with all of its spontaneous growth -- and his part in its continuum.

That might sound like a rather lofty claim, but there's no doubt that Hawaii's favorite son has stretched out lyrically on this album, developing a more confident and assured voice. Yet his sound remains anchored in those easy, surf-inspired grooves that have made him an increasingly popular jam music fave on the mainland.

And for someone whose national profile will grow tenfold after a scheduled appearance on "Saturday Night Live" March 12, the 29-year-old Johnson remains a humble soul.

It's really all about the music. And kudos once again to producer Mario Caldato Jr. (Beastie Boys) for helping get the sound right in the studio.

"In Between Dreams" should be listened to from beginning to end, as Johnson's calm and appealing voice flows through varying moods both personal and even approaching political at times.

While the focus tracks "Never Know" and "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" are the album's calling cards, local radio programmers would be smart in adding "Breakdown" to their playlists. Originally given a hip-hop treatment by Dan the Automator and Prince Paul on their recent Handsome Boy Modeling School album "White People," Johnson's vocal tracks, recorded at his Mango Tree studio on the North Shore, are placed back in his more natural surroundings, with ukuleles and the always-able support of drummer Adam Topol and bassist Merlo Podlewski taking the place of samples and turntable scratches.

To be honest, after the beginning buildup right up to the delightful, mischievous love song "Banana Pancakes," the first couple of verses and chorus of "Good People" start to justify some of the criticism leveled at Johnson's "same-sounding" music.

But, whoa, here comes the bridge, with his lyrics getting a little more pointed toward a fawning fan and the song gets a slight, if welcome, boost.

It only gets better through the remainder of the album. "In Between Dreams" ends on a hopeful note with "Do You Remember," an ongoing love buoyed by the memories of a romance that began in childhood, and "Constellations."

Jack Johnson does Hawaii proud with this album.