[“Hotel California” fades in]
That was “Hotel California,” the eighth track on Joji’s newest album Piss in the Wind.
George Miller, known as Joji, is a Japanese-American singer, rapper and songwriter. His work fuses different styles of music such as R&B, lo-fi and trip-hop. He is widely known for his songs like “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” and “Glimpse of Us,” with both charting the Billboard Hot 100 and the latter debuting at No.10.
Piss in the Wind marks Joji’s return to music after a three-year-long hiatus. It is also the first album he’s released under his independent record label Palace Creek, after leaving his previous record label, 88rising. Piss in the Wind features artists such as GIVEON, 4batz, Yeat and Don Toliver.
[“If It Only Gets Better” fades in]
That’s “If It Only Gets Better,” the second single released in anticipation for the album’s coming out in February. Joji released five singles in the months leading up to the album. The first single and first track on the album, “PIXELATED KISSES,” was released last October.
[“PIXELATED KISSES” fades in]
For McCormick third-year Angela Xu, “PIXELATED KISSES” maintained elements of traditional Joji sound. But the track seemed to diverge in a new direction at the same time.
XU: I think he was smart to put that one out first because it’s kind of, like stronger version of his previous sound, and I think it was kind of like.
2:31: , it would kind of show that he’s not completely changing his style, but definitely refining a lot of elements of it and like, exploring, like, different sounds that are still related to his, like, his own sound. Like you can definitely tell it’s a Joji song, but like, the beat is so different. It’s like so strong and like even abrasive, and I think it was really interesting to hear that be like the first thing he released after so long.
The fourth released single, “LOVE YOU LESS,” pivots from the high-tempo beats of PIXELATED KISSES and more closely resembles his traditional, slower-tempoed and ballad-style tracks.
[“LOVE YOU LESS” fades in]
After listening to the first few released singles, McCormick first-year Wentao Lin wasn’t sure what to expect from the album.
LIN: I wasn’t really sure, because like, it seemed like to me he had like two styles and I wasn’t really entirely sure if he was going for a mix of both. They’re just, like going completely in the direction of like, something like PIXELATED KISSES.
The album is lengthy, spanning 21 tracks, but almost half the tracks are under two minutes. Album reviews from music magazines like Clash and New Music Express have criticized Piss in the Wind for its lack of depth. They say the album’s length allowed for experimentalism but left his tracks underdeveloped and ending too soon at the same time.
But Joji’s experimentalism didn’t completely sour the album. Joji reached new listeners with his artistic expansion, like Weinberg third-year Louis Flagel. Flagel said he had listened to “Glimpse of Us” before, but started listening to Joji’s newer songs after watching a music video for the eleventh track on the album, “Past Won’t Leave My Bed.”
[“Past Won’t Leave My Bed” fades in]
“Past Won’t Leave My Bed” is a notable ballad from the album, presenting how sleep brings Joji constant memories from the past, but he can’t seem to move on. Flagel said Joji’s ability to convey life experiences into his artistry, like his publicized health issues, stood out to him the most.
FLAGEL: I feel like that comes through with his music too, and it makes it kind of like not even not like relatable but like pretty real, you know what I’m saying, like authentic, which is pretty cool.
In addition to “Past Won’t Leave My Bed,” Joji released other types of music videos, such as a visualizer for “Last of a Dying Breed.”
[“Last of a Dying Breed” fades in]
XU: I would say this is an artist where you should definitely watch the music videos as well. The videos show a lot more about, like, what the music is trying to convey, and also the visuals are just really cool.
Xu also noted that Joji’s collaborations with other artists stood out to her. One of those songs was the seventh track on the album, “Piece of You” (with GIVEON).
[“Piece of You” with GIVEON fades in]
XU: I mentioned that I feel like he’s been doing a lot more, like, singing and like, his vocal capabilities improved a lot, but I think him having a song with Giveon is like really representative of that because Giveon is like, like he’s a singer. Like, I feel like Joji is not really seen as like a singer, like, oh, he’s a musician or like he’s a producer and like, but his strength has never been like his singing, obviously, cause that’s not how he got into music, but it’s really cool to see that he’s like, able to collab with like esteemed singers.
But despite his experimentalism and growth, Joji’s older music still comes out on top for some listeners.
LIN: I don’t know if I can make, like, a fair, like, comparison right now, cuz I’m still, like, more biased towards the older stuff cuz I’ve listened to it longer and I guess like, I don’t know. It’s a little, some of them are more nostalgic to me, so I appreciate them in ways that like, I don’t really appreciate this new album yet, right, but I would say. Yeah, I would still, I would still say I do like the older stuff a bit more.
The album ends with “Dior,” a callback to Joji’s melancholic, moody and wistful sound.
[“Dior” fades in]
For WNUR News, I’m Evelyn Won.
