Hang Loose. 

Jack Johnson is the anti rock star. He’s had three straight platinum albums, the most recent debuting at number one the week of its release. And yet it would be difficult to find any similarity between him and the artists who have achieved similar success recently. Johnson’s music is one dimensional—gentle melodies sung against the loping strum of an acoustic guitar. It’s as if he is sketching with pencil while all around him everyone else is painting with a full palette of colors. His new cd "Sleep Through the Static" finds him in the same mode, and that’s a good thing.

The only radical departure he offers are the lyrics to a couple of politically oriented songs ("Sleep Through the Static" and "Monsoon") but his mellow voice allows you to opt out of taking them seriously and just go with the vibe. A beautiful love song to his wife ("Angel"), reflections on being a father of two young children ("Go On") and an appreciation for the earth ("All At Once") are more his style. Background vocals on "If I Had Eyes" are sung by Danny Riley, Johnson’s late cousin to whom the album is dedicated.

Subtle rhythms, subdued piano, almost non-existent electric guitar and the lack of any truly up-tempo songs only serve to accentuate Johnson’s Zen-like approach to music. The album was "recorded with 100% solar energy" and is a reunion with the producer of his first album, JP Plunier but none of that distracts from his unique sound and his ability to maintain his consistency. Experimentation? That’s for rock stars.

Listen for songs from Jack Johnson album "Sleep Through the Static" all this week on Paul Shugrue’s new music show "Out of the Box" on Hampton Roads public radio 89.5 WHRV Monday through Thursday from 7pm until 9pm, Saturday afternoon from 1pm to 5pm and on-demand at www.whrv.org/outofthebox.