Joji - Ballads 1

October 26, 2018 - 88rising Music/12Tone Music

Joji’s come through with some ballads on his latest release Ballads 1. Working in an electronic vein, he’s departed from his viral comedian beginnings as George Miller (which is still his real name) and drifted into bedroom sulk.

Here is a score fo each song individually:

‘Attention’—It’s a solid pared down track, and has lyrically touching moments thanks to a stark lack of flourish. Smart distortions make two appearances to highlight verses like “I know I’m cryptic and I’m weird, that shit comes off as indifferent.” The song loses points for the vocal similarity to Khalid’s ‘Location.’ 6.9

‘Slow Dancing in the Dark’—Trap and R&B meet dreamy heart vocals to create one hell of a chorus. Baleful lines like “Give me reasons we should be complete,” are pleasantly jarring over such dramatic vocal climbs, which normally lend themselves to hackneyed drama. Points for hinting at polyamory and unflinchingly tackling the emotional disparity between someone who wants a nightcap and another who wants a relationship. 8.9 (points off for the line “Going so great,” and not teaching me enough about life)

‘Test Drive’—Shoe’s on the other foot. Our playboy is looking to be a soul mate. No shame there. Lauded by Beat1 as highly innovative, but could easily enough be a track produced with Drake. 6 (Points added for being pretty good)

‘Wanted U’—I can’t get into it too deep here, but when SMS abbreviations make their way into track titles I’m expecting either subversion or an appeal to a young teen fan base. A little punk-rock works its way in some reverb guitar licks. The chorus is great and features a powerful wind chime sweep. The guitar really goes off on this one in a 30 second Freebird moment. Fun abrupt ending. 7.3

‘Can’t Get Over You’—Freshens up the album with a little plucky funk. Good old fashioned funk set up. Staccato airy vocals. Offbeat harp. Points off for being about killing some girl that doesn’t like you. Or boy, whatever. C+ 

‘Yeah Right’—A song I can’t even remember. I think this album in general would be more thrilling to people less familiar with its collaborators. But for those of us well-fed and raised on Clams Casino, and sprouting through second puberty with Thundercat and Shlohmo, it’s hard to find and enjoy something truly new in Ballads 1. The album is solid and has definite ear worms. But there’s little to nestle it permanently or prolongedly in my mind. That said, this track features that dreamy rainy window pane quality that LA electrónica was fixated on for a while and still has soothing merit. 4.8 (Points off for the sudden realization I had about why I don’t care so much about this album despite it’s strengths)

‘Why Am I Still in LA’—A common question I’m hearing lately. This song features a glockenspiel. One can differentiate between this and the xylophone, because of the tinny quality in the glock, where as a xylophone might be a little more sonorous and its resonance more in the alto. Surprise overdrive guitar shakes the easy breezy quality. 7.4 (Points added for genuine frustration with LA. Points off for not being an especially interesting song)

‘No Fun’—We all have to alienate our friends. A fine song about driving around on your own and how your friends are no fun, and also how you lost all of your friends. C

‘Come Thru’—I’m officially tired of listening by this point. Sounds like Khalid again. 4.5 (No points added or taken)

‘R.I.P.’—You’ve heard enough. It was good in the beginning and now what charms it possessed the album has dropped. Featuring Trippie Redd as Autotuned Sadboi, the track is a nothing genre piece. Here’s just a quick tip. Don’t rhyme anything with “crystal clear.” Also don’t say “I would die for you” more than maybe three times, which I think is generous. 3.5

‘XNXX’—“I don’t really wanna run arou-row-row-row-row-row.” Anyone who calls this genre bending is being incentivized in the workplace to say so or is a coward without a cause. Nice bells. 4.5

‘I’ll See You in 40’—The most innovative of the tracks.  A highly distorted voice wails over acoustic guitar, before transitioning into a spaghetti western for one second and then a hard stepping R&B/rock crossover. Small background voices give it that LA flare. “I can feel a change,” he says. “The way you sing your song,” he says. That makes one of us. 7.9 (a genuinely good song, with points taken away for the pain the previous three tracks caused me) ⛰️

BALLADS 1, an album by Joji on Spotify