On Sept. 25, Joji released a new album titled “Nectar.” For the most part, Joji stuck to his usual sound throughout the album, with the exception of one or two tracks. Most dedicated fans of Joji will enjoy this album. Though the album is not ground-breaking, it is good enough to play without having to skip many songs.
The album begins with the track “Ew,” which is not entirely special considering what Joji has released in the past. This track gives the same vibes as some of the cliché “Deep Focus” or “Study” playlists on Spotify. Perhaps this is because Halloween is coming up, but the more the track is played, the more vivid a mental image of a cartoon ghost howling in sorrow appears. The listeners may find themselves in emotional confusion as they feel the utter sorrow from the song while simultaneously picturing a cute and sad little ghost. Can this track be taken seriously now? Probably not.
The album continues with the track “Your Man.” This song better resembles Joji’s typical sound. However, there are still little to no special elements. The track gets slightly more interesting around 1:41, but ultimately lacks depth and creativity. Just because it lacks depth, however, does not mean that the song is not a total vibe. The lack of complexity in “Your Man” further showcases the point in the beginning: that the album is fine, just not profound in any way.
The quality and diversity picks up slightly in “777.” Honestly, “quality” may not be the best word, as the amount of obvious and borderline obnoxious auto-tune in this track is slightly excessive. But, the song does have more elements in it such as constant changes in base and vocal style. The creativity is there with this track, but Joji should have stuck with the parts that have less auto-tune because it cheapens the music.
“Pretty Boy (feat Lil. Yachty)” starts as one of the more promising tracks of the album, and this is coming from someone who is not really a fan of Lil Yachty. Granted, the music does decrease in quality slightly when Lil Yachty comes in, but overall this track is probably one of the stronger ones of the album. Another track in the album that features BENEE is decent as well and deserves an honorable mention.
The three best tracks on the album are “Daylight,” “Gimme Love” and “Run,” which were already released as singles. Though these tracks are greatly appreciated, it makes the drop of the album pretty disappointing when the rest of the songs are complete scrubs compared to the ones already released.
Overall, if anyone hasn’t already listened to the previously released singles, then maybe give the album a try and listen to those last so you might not be disappointed. However, if you have already listened to the singles then do not expect an extremely profound and unique set of tracks for your new playlist.