I am loving Light, the new Matisyahu album. I am a fan of all his material and with Light he really has taken things to a new level. If there was a slight ‘gimmick’ element to his previous work, then there is absolutely none of that left here. He is still a Hasid singing reggae, but it’s as if he’s got over the peculiarity of that and is letting his own sound come through.

And how great it is! The opener Smash Lies kicks off with banjos of all things and builds into a something more noisy than anything he’s done before. So Hi So Lo is also heaviness defined. The stand-out tracks are the lighter, more upbeat We Will Walk, I Will Be Light and the beautiful Silence which closes the album. Be warned, the latter is a real choker of a song in all the best ways. The first time I heard it I knew: this is going to be an all-time favourite. Period.

There’s a slightly strange coincidence ahead for me Matisyahu-wise. This time last year, Chris and myself were gleefully honeymooning in America. We stayed in LA, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Washington. While we were in San Fran, we were wandering around a huge park one day when I suddenly heard the unmistakable sound of Matisyahu. We followed the sound and found ourselves outside a pay festival. Never having seen him live, I was beyond excited and ready to hand over whatever it cost to get in. Right at the last moment I realised that it was a studio recording of him being played by a DJ, rather than the man himself playing live. Disappointing, but good to have saved the money.

Anyway, the coincidence comes with the fact that I’m seeing Matisyahu play live in London on October 13, which I reckon must be a year to the day (or near enough) since that day in the park in San Fran. I’m ridiculously excited about finally seeing him live because he is, to say the least, da man.

The gig is sold out but I recommend you check out Light, and his previous work too.