Joji - Piss In The Wind Review

The teasers we got for this project were genuinely exciting, but Piss In The Wind is incredibly frustrating.

PIECE OF YOU with Giveon is beautiful, the annoying part is 2.15 isn’t enough. The best thing about the album is that it feels a lot like BALLADS 1 and SMITHEREENS; you can even throw in some heavy In Tongues (particularly DEMONS and I DON’T WANNA WASTE MY TIME). It is fat with the delicate layers, stacked distortion, and the melodic style that Joji fans are used to. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a track on here that doesn’t have Joji’s DNA all over it, so much so that you’d be forgiven for confusing a couple of the tracks with ones we’ve heard before.

Does it make them bad? No, it’s just his style, and people who’ve been here since Dirty Frank are ride or die.

Maybe there is a lesson somewhere in all the demo-length tracks, about not getting invested in that which can be finished so abruptly. While each individual track feels good, together on an album, it feels like we are missing something that would make it cohesive. The consistency does come from the quality, which doesn’t disappoint, but it doesn’t come from each song when listened to in order.

In fact, we might even be tempted to say, and we’d love to see someone out there do it, these should be in a different order.

CAN’T SEE SH*T IN THE CLUB, we almost sang ‘perfect vision’ after the ‘every time I close my eyes’ line.

The song that people are talking about is SOJOURN, and yeah, it’s good, we like it ‘cause it triggered a Gwen Stefani The Sweet Escape memory in parts. SOJOURN hits you hard because it starts off the tail end of the ballad leaning: CAN’T SEE SH*T IN THE CLUB.

Just like the rest of the tracks, it finishes way too soon, though. And as usual, just right before you’d expect a crescendo of sorts, or just another minute of track.

ROSE COLORED with Yeat, the layering of vocals that kicks in about 2.01 is incredibly pleasing to the ear. Though Yeat himself doesn’t feel like he was needed, Joji could’ve carried this one alone.

We get sweeps of the energy and sound we got in Nectar. And, LOVE YOU LESS intro sounds so much like Djo’s End of Beginning chorus (about 35 seconds in). You can sing Djo’s lyrics over the top of the LYL intro.

If there is one thing Joji does, it is build a universe around his work. You can very easily listen to a shuffled mix of BALLADS 1, SMITHEREENS, and PISS IN THE WIND. A couple of tracks from NECTAR. And, we dunno about you, but we’re still holding onto drips of the mythical CHLOE BURBANK when we remember how good HOLD MY BLOOD was, and what we could’ve had. If you happen to have a playlist with this combo, drop the link in the comments. We’d love to take a listen.

Despite people saying they are filler tracks and that it feels unfinished, a few more listens can easily move you in the opposite direction.

On first run-through of the album, you’d be tempted to say, listening to it start to end leaves you unsatisfied, because what do you mean 21 songs and only 45 minutes of music? Is there anything worth replaying?

He’s never been one to be pinned into one genre; in fact, he will switch in the middle of a track. ATTENTION (BALLADS 1) is a great example; we sway between soft piano and hit a brick wall of distortion, then right back to the piano.

For new listeners, PITW is going to be confusing, but for those who know ball, this is Joji. He delivers glimpses and vignettes, HOTEL CALIFORNIA and HORSES TO WATER should let you know, he knows exactly what he is doing. Firing out 21 ideas, and then we wait for the direction he takes next. Lyrically, the album is introspective, yearning (as always), heartsick, and sad, with lightness and texture burned into it all.

Who hurt you, Joji, and why must we suffer too?

Track least enjoyed: Forehead Touch The Ground
Most enjoyed track: Tarmac
Grower: Horses to Water
Going to be the big one: Sojourn.