Four years after he debuted, Hasidic Jew and reggae toaster Matisyahu is well past the novelty stage, as the large crowds at his shows attest. He sounds thoroughly like a pro on his third album, which finds him employing island-flavored jams, skittery hip-hop and slick keyboard grooves. On bright pleasures like the New Wave-y "We Will Walk," Light comes close to becoming an attention-holding pop album. But it's dragged into earnest tedium by good-natured platitudes ("I must find a road that leads where nobody goes") and hippie-soul moments like "Thunder," on which Matisyeezy sounds like a self-serious indie rapper with a major vegan bent.

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CHRISTIAN HOARD

(Posted: Aug 24, 2009)