Jack Johnson

Brushfire Fairytales

by Eva Fazzari 

A soothing tone for a fast-paced, blurry world, Jack Johnson demands we apply the brakes and refocus our lenses – “Slow down … frames can’t catch you when you’re moving too fast.” Focused music speaks, sings, screams to our senses as Brushfire Fairytales attempts to evoke our humanness in a simplistic, conceptualized manner.  His soft, contradicting voice sings of the heavy media-fed burdens, yet his message penetrates far deeper than the surface of sweet and mellow sound. Easily heard but not necessarily understood, Brushfire Fairytales calls for the analytical to listen.

“Silent films are full of sound … inaudibly free.”  These lyrics appeal to the critical thinkers willing to take a dreaded dose of reality, as Johnson points out society’s trend to cover up and silence the truth.  In the logic of synaesthesia, one can gather much from the visual, for sight and sound have the ability to evoke one another, blending our senses. As an artist inspired by the visual world, Johnson creates highly interpretive and vividly expressive songs that evoke.

To understand the importance of this album one must learn to view the practice of throwing paint and beating clay as an art form … not the finished presentation alone, but the physical process.  Visual artists use their medium as a form of expression, as Johnson similarly uses music as means for discovery and an outlet to vent.  He expresses fleeting moments of regret, ignorance, reminiscence and vulnerability, while lightly offering criticisms embedded with a lingering shock factor.  Anger sounds mellow; regret sounds soothing, and in this manner he uniquely creates a powerful and haunting effect through combination of sound and message. 

“I want to wake up from this concussion,” for though the body lives in this state, the mind may not.  Johnson clings to the life and sharpness he sees when he stirs up his consciousness.  Conceptual visions and criticisms of the world around him shine through, and clearly evident references to the highly modernized photographic mindsets appear in several tracks.  The artist falls out of the norm, or rather, he places himself there, actively taking hold of the controls in the driver’s seat of a smooth yet rocky, highly unpredictable ride – active souls must place themselves here.

Sweet tones allow the listener to be as ignorant as desired. “Baby, close your eyes to the lullabies on the news tonight.”  The latent message: close your eyes, shut off your mind, and ignore.  These strong messages creep into our world by the passive and sweet nature of his songs.  He asks that we slow down and appreciate the mellow and the simple.  “Frame lines tell me what to see.”  Let the music direct.