Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
As an American Hasidic Jewish reggae superstar, Matisyahu is an obvious outsider. After a debut album that felt live plus a follow-up album that was recorded live, the singer's ambition to do more with the studio presentation of his music left any sensible packaging up to the producer. The mismatch with fellow mystic Bill Laswell caused 2006's Youth to wander and sprawl, but industry vet David Kahne handles much of Light, and the difference is huge. Kahne packaged reggae-pop acts like Sublime and Fishbone -- whose members show up here -- before, but here he's primarily focused on Matisyahu's wide view, love of ancient history, and spiritual heart. The results are comparable to So and all the Peter Gabriel albums after, with high-tech and polish helping to drive home the artist's reverence and sense of wonder. Sounding like breakthrough hit "Chop 'Em Down"'s little brother, "Smash Lies" is an effective opener plus a dancehall-driven crowd-pleaser that'll give way to an album less reggae than any previous. Besides a little "singjay" in his vocal style, the grand, key track "One Day" has little to do with Jamaican music, and the equally moving "For You" is more likely influenced by Tears for Fears than Bob Marley. Joel Madden makes crunching punk-pop guitar the centerpiece of "Darkness into Light," and ethereal closer "Silence" could be passed off as from the Dave Matthews songbook if the lines written in Hebrew didn't give Matisyahu away. Whether using his voice as a whisper or as a giant call across nations, the depth of feeling comes through brilliantly, and if the musical soundscape isn't familiar, the empowering and sincere lyrics most definitely are. Add Kahne's instantly accessible production and Light is not only a welcome surprise, but an album that matches his debut.
© David Jeffries /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From $10.83/month
David Kahne, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Guitar, Keyboards, Programmer - Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Stephen McGregor, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programmer - John Hanes, Engineer - Serban Ghenea, Mixing Engineer - Tim Roberts, Assistant Engineer - Jeremy Harding, Engineer - Shalom Mor, AssociatedPerformer
(P) 2008 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
David Kahne, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programmer - Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Aaron Dugan, Composer, Guitar - Ooah, Composer, Producer, Keyboards - John Hanes, Engineer - Ephraim Rosenstein, Lyricist - Serban Ghenea, Mixing Engineer - Tim Roberts, Assistant Engineer - Joe Baressi, Engineer - Fish, Drums - Norwood Fisher, Bass
(P) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Ari Levine, Composer, Lyricist, Recording Engineer, All Instruments - Philip Lawrence, Composer, Lyricist - Bruno Mars, Composer, Lyricist, All Instruments - The Smeezingtons, Producer - MANNY MARROQUIN, Mixing Engineer
(P) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
David Kahne, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programmer, Mixing Engineer, Bass - S. Brooks, Composer - Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Aaron Dugan, Guitar - Ooah, Composer, Producer - Ephraim Rosenstein, Lyricist - Shawn Pelton, Drums - Brian Montgomery, Engineer - Samuel Williams, Drums - Nambo Robinson, Drums - Delroy Williams, Drums - Stu 'Bassie' Brooks, Bass
(P) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
David Kahne, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programmer - Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Aaron Dugan, Composer, Producer, Guitar - John Hanes, Engineer - Ephraim Rosenstein, Lyricist - Serban Ghenea, Mixing Engineer - Tim Roberts, Assistant Engineer - Joe Baressi, Engineer - Fish, Drums - Norwood Fisher, Bass
(P) 2008 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
David Kahne, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programmer, Mixing Engineer - Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Aaron Dugan, Guitar - Trevor Hall, Composer, Guitar, Background Vocal - Ephraim Rosenstein, Lyricist - Sly Dunbar, Drums - Michael Harris, Background Vocal - DELROY POTTINGER, Engineer - Robert Shakespeare, Bass - Peter Gayle, Background Vocal - Chevaughn Clayton, Background Vocal - Carl Scharschmidt, Background Vocal
(P) 2008 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Lyricist - Dave McCracken, Composer, Producer - MANNY MARROQUIN, Mixing Engineer - Marcos Tovar, Recording Engineer
(P) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
David Kahne, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programmer, Mixing Engineer, Bass - Jerry Dixon, Bagpipe - Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Trevor Hall, Composer, Guitar - Ephraim Rosenstein, Lyricist - Shawn Pelton, Drums - Jeremy Harding, Recording Engineer - Joshua Thomas, AssociatedPerformer - J'Quan Hawkes, AssociatedPerformer - Shane Loftus, AssociatedPerformer - Jonathan Bornstein, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Harewood, AssociatedPerformer - Stephan Bozier, AssociatedPerformer - Brent Fiola, AssociatedPerformer - Anthony Salvaggio, AssociatedPerformer - Tom De Micco, AssociatedPerformer
(P) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
David Kahne, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programmer, Mixing Engineer - Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Stephen McGregor, Composer, Producer, Drums, Keyboards, Programmer - Jeremy Harding, Engineer, Guitar, Recording Engineer, Bass - Piamenta, Guitar
(P) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
David Kahne, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programmer, Mixing Engineer - Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Lyricist - Aaron Dugan, Guitar - Adam Deitch, Composer, Producer, Drums, Keyboards, Programmer - Eric Krasno, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Guitar, Bass - Barrington Levy, Composer, Lyricist - Jah Dan, Lyricist, Vocal
(P) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
David Kahne, Producer, Engineer, Guitar, Keyboards, Programmer, Bass - Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Ooah, Keyboards - Jay E, Composer, Engineer, Guitar, Programmer - John Hanes, Mixing Engineer - Serban Ghenea, Mixing Engineer - Tim Roberts, Mixing Engineer - Benji Madden, Composer, Producer - Joel Madden, Composer, Producer - Shawn Pelton, Drums - Brian Montgomery, Engineer - Reeve Carney, Guitar
(P) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
David Kahne, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programmer, Mixing Engineer, Bass - Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Aaron Dugan, Composer, Guitar - Shawn Pelton, Drums - Brian Montgomery, Engineer
(P) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
David Kahne, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programmer, Mixing Engineer - Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Trevor Hall, Composer, Guitar
(P) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
Aliaune Thiam, Composer, Lyricist - Matisyahu, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Ari Levine, Composer, Lyricist, Recording Engineer, AssociatedPerformer - Philip Lawrence, Composer, Lyricist - Bruno Mars, Composer, Lyricist, AssociatedPerformer - The Smeezingtons, Producer - MANNY MARROQUIN, Mixing Engineer - Akon, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matisyahu feat. Akon, AssociatedPerformer
(P) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
Album review
As an American Hasidic Jewish reggae superstar, Matisyahu is an obvious outsider. After a debut album that felt live plus a follow-up album that was recorded live, the singer's ambition to do more with the studio presentation of his music left any sensible packaging up to the producer. The mismatch with fellow mystic Bill Laswell caused 2006's Youth to wander and sprawl, but industry vet David Kahne handles much of Light, and the difference is huge. Kahne packaged reggae-pop acts like Sublime and Fishbone -- whose members show up here -- before, but here he's primarily focused on Matisyahu's wide view, love of ancient history, and spiritual heart. The results are comparable to So and all the Peter Gabriel albums after, with high-tech and polish helping to drive home the artist's reverence and sense of wonder. Sounding like breakthrough hit "Chop 'Em Down"'s little brother, "Smash Lies" is an effective opener plus a dancehall-driven crowd-pleaser that'll give way to an album less reggae than any previous. Besides a little "singjay" in his vocal style, the grand, key track "One Day" has little to do with Jamaican music, and the equally moving "For You" is more likely influenced by Tears for Fears than Bob Marley. Joel Madden makes crunching punk-pop guitar the centerpiece of "Darkness into Light," and ethereal closer "Silence" could be passed off as from the Dave Matthews songbook if the lines written in Hebrew didn't give Matisyahu away. Whether using his voice as a whisper or as a giant call across nations, the depth of feeling comes through brilliantly, and if the musical soundscape isn't familiar, the empowering and sincere lyrics most definitely are. Add Kahne's instantly accessible production and Light is not only a welcome surprise, but an album that matches his debut.
© David Jeffries /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 14 track(s)
- Total length: 00:50:00
- Main artists: Matisyahu
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Epic
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Alternative & Indie
(P) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
Improve album information
Why buy on Qobuz?
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalog with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets, and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.