{"id":31622,"date":"2020-10-10T20:36:07","date_gmt":"2020-10-11T03:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theculturednerd.org\/?p=31622"},"modified":"2020-10-11T10:50:37","modified_gmt":"2020-10-11T17:50:37","slug":"album-review-nectar-by-joji","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theculturednerd.org\/?p=31622","title":{"rendered":"[Album Review] \u201cNectar\u201d by Joji"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nectar may be beset by the inconsistencies in its track-list but Joji\u2019s <\/em>improved vocals and a strong first act make for a worthy listen.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Joji<\/strong> is a Japanese Singer-Songwriter who was formerly known for his YouTube channel under the alias \u201cFilthy Frank\u201d. Joji has always had a knack for making music but the virality of his YouTube channel was so insane that Joji or Filthy Frank at that time, became a legend in the meme culture and Joji remained a content creator for longer than he had initially thought he would. Nectar<\/strong> is Joji\u2019s second studio album and was released on September 25, 2020.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Track-list : <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Ew<\/li>
  2. Modus<\/li>
  3. Tick Tock <\/li>
  4. Daylight <\/li>
  5. Upgrade <\/li>
  6. Gimme Love <\/li>
  7. Run <\/li>
  8. Sanctuary<\/li>
  9. High Hopes <\/li>
  10. Nitrous <\/li>
  11. Pretty Boy <\/li>
  12. Normal People <\/li>
  13. Afterthought <\/li>
  14. Mr. Hollywood <\/li>
  15. 777<\/li>
  16. Reanimator <\/li>
  17. Like You Do <\/li>
  18. Your Man<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Joji has always shown a good amount of potential in his music since his departure from YouTube. His debut album \u201cBallads 1\u201d had some pretty good highlights like the glitzy, forlorn \u201cSlow Dancing in the Dark\u201d or the moody \u201cYeah Right\u201d and a handful of others although Joji did come of as an artist who was still trying to find his identity back then. With Nectar, Joji feels like someone who has come into his own artistically, granted the album still suffered from some of its inconsistencies in the track-list but the more refined production and the lush vocal performances this album has in spades say more than enough about Joji\u2019s evolution as an artist.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The opener \u201cEw\u201d details Joji\u2019s longingness for a lover that can be with him forever. The overall somber aesthetic of the song and the grandiose piano outro sets the tone of the album pretty well. \u201cTick Tock\u201d made for a awkward moment in the album sonically, mainly due to how much it swayed from the ostentatious and glossy presentation of the record. \u201cDaylight\u201d produced by Diplo<\/strong> is a warm, groovy track where Joji mourns the end of a relationship. The highlights of the album continue with \u201cGimmie Love\u201d and \u201cRun\u201d, both are stellar tracks with excellent production. Joji\u2019s vocals are absolute show-stealers on both of these songs, they\u2019re luscious, bold and soaring.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cSanctuary\u201d finds Joji taking listeners on an interstellar journey of love and describing his desired lover as the titular sanctuary. The production is someone minimal but Joji\u2019s falsetto vocals are euphoric and emotive and keep the song afloat nicely. The second half of the album feels a little drab and lackluster in comparison to the first half, you can tell Joji didn\u2019t put as much effort into some of the tracks that come up in the middle of the album as he did the earlier tracks. Tracks like \u201cNitrous\u201d and \u201cNormal People\u201d have quite bland production and on Nitrous, even Joji\u2019s vocals fall flat. \u201cPretty Boy\u201d with Lil Yachty<\/strong> is a fruitful change of pace with its hearty vocals and atmosphere. On the flip side though, contrary to its sound, the track does feature a serious and somewhat dark subject matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There are a few more worthwhile tracks in the last act of the album such as \u201cMr. Hollywood\u201d and \u201cAfterthought\u201d but an argument could be made that the topics of the album are pretty repetitive and like I have mentioned before, the second half does drag quite a bit. There are a lot of tracks with spacey, atmospheric production that lacks texture, and most of them are also quite underwritten too. But overall, Nectar is a significant mark of growth for Joji. His underdeveloped Lo-Fi aesthetics that pretty much loomed over all of Ballads 1 have completely evaporated and the issues of the album really just boil down to its track-list that could have been much shorter and more watertight than it actually was. So with all that being said, all I can do is hope for whatever Joji puts out next to have a leaner set of songs and a less spotty pacing. If that does end up being the case, Joji will undoubtedly have something special in his catalogue.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Rating : B+<\/strong>
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Nectar contains tracks written by Joji, Antoine Norwood, Caloway, Chelsea Lena, Clams Casino, Craig Balmoris, Daniel Dalexis, Daniel Krieger, Daniel Wilson, Deon Kight Jr., Diplo, Elderbrook, Greg Kurstin, Isaac Sleator, James Ghaleb, Jim-E Stack, John Durham, Josh Taffel, Justin Parker, Justin Raisen, Kacy Hill, Kenny Beats, Kurtis McKenzie, <\/strong>Lil Yachty, Linden Jay, Lucas Szulansky, Luke Niccoli, Maximilian Jaeger, Omar Apollo, Patrick Wimberly, Rappy, rei brown, Reske, Rickard G\u00f6ransson, Rog\u00e9t Chahayed, Sarah Aarons, Stephen Norwood, STINT, Stuart Johnson, Tobias Karlsson, West1ne, Yves Tumor, and BENEE<\/strong> and production by B\u0113kon, Clams Casino, Diplo, The Donuts, Greg Kurstin, Isaac Sleator, James Ghaleb, Jim-E Stack, John Durham, Joji, Josh Taffel, Justin Parker, Justin Raisen, Kenny Beats, Kurtis McKenzie, Lentz Martin, Linden Jay, Maximilian Jaeger, Patrick Wimberly, Reske, Rickard G\u00f6ransson, Rog\u00e9t Chahayed, STINT, Suburban Plaza, Tobias Karlsson, West1ne & Yves Tumor<\/strong>. It is now available for physical and digital purchase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Nectar may be beset by the inconsistencies in its track-list but Joji\u2019s improved vocals and a strong first act make for a worthy listen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":31665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,15],"tags":[4328,4327,4324,4325,4329,2088,577,4254,4326],"class_list":["post-31622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-reviews","tag-filthy-frank","tag-gimmie-love","tag-joji","tag-nectar","tag-pink-guy","tag-pop","tag-review","tag-rnb","tag-sanctuary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n[Album Review] \u201cNectar\u201d by Joji - 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