Hawaiian native Jack Johnson has four albums to his credit and though very successful in his own way, he is not a big timer here, for his acoustic sessions on his fifth studio work are not the impressive happy go lucky pop you might tune into, but more laid back, easy on the ears kind of stuff.

So what you have is about an hour of happy songs, recorded using solar energy at LA’s Solar Powered Plastic Plant. Wish all artists think like this and save the planet.

Moving onto the album we have 14 tracks that have simple arrangements, good vocals by Johnson and good instrumentation all around. The opener All at once a global warming anthem will give you the exact feel of the album and what you’d expect in the next tracks. In short its simple toned down stuff, slow and with Johnson’s mellow vocals the main focal point.

Some memorable pieces would be If I had eyes and the extremely well timed Angel. Sleep through the Static has political overtones that are best kept aside. A little dragging you might say, not very appealing at the first listen, but worth a listen to know just what this balding singer with his guitar has to offer. Something different would be the answer, but nothing very impressive either.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira