Joji is a 32 year old rapper, producer, singer/songwriter & internet personality from Osaka, Japan making his full-length debut in 2017 with Pink Season. He would go on to follow it up with the sophomore effort Ballads & then Nectar, signing to Warner Records for his previous full-length Smithereens. Forming his own label distributed by Virgin Music called Palace Creek following his departure from the 88rising collective, he’s ready to begin this new era of his career declaring his independence in the form of his 5th studio album.
The self-produced “Pixelated Kisses” featuring Yeat on the remix blends alternative R&B, rage, witch house, trap soul & wave music talking about online relationships just before “Cigarettes” moodily issues the tobacco product as a metaphor for being burnt out. “Last of Dying Breed” combines alt-pop, alternative R&B, outsider house, neo-psychedelia & chillwave to grieve the rarity of an ex-girlfriend leading into “Love You Less” experimenting with dream pop, indie rock, shoegaze & jangle pop to sing about a toxic relationship.
“If It Only Gets Better” explores alt-pop, alternative R&B, indie folk, folktronica, wonky, trip hop & bedroom pop tackling the forever relevant subject of change just before “Love Me Better” sings about how he could’ve stayed with this woman he’s no longer seeing if she cherished him a lot more than she did. “Piece of You” feels more like a GIVĒON track since he handles a great deal of the performances despite the Kenny Beats instrumental while “Hotel California” heads for a lo-fi direction singing about a woman who makes his heart beat fast.
As for “Tarmac”, we have Joji finding himself emotionally stuck & looking for a way to something that felt authentic over some unsettling guitar passages while “Forehead Touch the Ground” spaciously sings about the inability of him trying to get this person out of his head. “Past Won’t Leave My Bed” ends the 1st half combining piano rock, adult contemporary, singer/songwriter & space rock revival for a personification of sleep while “Fade to Black” feels like a 75 second interlude performed by 4Batz.
“Can’t See Shit in the Club” brings some trap soul undertones in the mix for a spiritual successor to the 2020 loosie “F.T.C. (Fuck the Club)” until Dylan Brady joins Kenny Beats behind the boards during “Sojourn”, singing about a kind of love that’s in the middle of being eternal & unremembered. “D.Y.K.I.L.Y. (Don’t You Know I Love You?)” digs up an outtake from the Balladssessions to make a finished version of it while “Rose Colored” produced by BNYX of Working on Dying makes room for Yeat to spit 1 last verse so Filthy Frank can handle the hook.
Nearing the LP’s final moments, “Silhouette Man” slows down Joji’s vocals over this cloudy beat portraying himself as a shadow while “Fragments” mostly performed by Don Toliver sings about desiring pieces of his partner Kali Uchis since he can’t promise her eternity. “Horses to Water” hooks up a bassline & some pianos responding to people claiming the water’s different that it all tastes the same but after the repetitively written “Strange Home” sings about losing a part of him, the industrial outro “Dior” concludes with a chorus asking the woman he’s in love with if he’ll ever get the chance of seeing her again.
The teasers building up to Piss in the Wind gave me the impression that Joji would make the most enjoyable body of work in his career since a great deal of his output until this point has been average at best & it very much succeeds at capturing his artistic evolution since his YouTube days. Parts of wave music, lo-fi hip hop, trap soul, art pop, rage, witch house, trap soul, indie folk, folktronica, wonky, trip hop, bedroom pop, outsider house, neo-psychedelia, chillwave, dream pop, indie rock, shoegaze, jangle pop, piano rock, adult contemporary, singer/songwriter & space rock revival all get incorporated into his alt-pop/alternative R&B sound in a versatile manner to compliment his melancholic songwriting & it feels like more of a complete product than Smithereens did.
Score: 3.5/5
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