Album Review: Nectar by Joji

Nectar: a melancholic trip into Joji’s dark mystical forest

George Kusunoki Miller, better known by his stage name Joji is a Japanese singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and former Internet personality, YouTuber, and comedian. Nectar, Joji’s second album, is a trip down the dark and moody forest that Miller crafts with his sounds. Joji blends pop style, with aspects of R&B, Hip-Hop, Dance as well as rock. The arrangement is grand, over the top and sometimes even larger than life which makes the scales go significantly upwards. Thematically the album always stay true to its core and stays about a lover who’s nostalgic and reminiscent of his past relationships. Nectar speaks cohesion because each song flows effortlessly into to the other. The production on the album has to be the standout on Nectar, with an assortment of gorgeous beats. Joji is closely associated with everything happening in the album as he takes part in every aspect of the project from writing to arranging which increases the coherency of this record. On the guest list, Joji features the who’s who of experimental music like Diplo and everyone adds a distinctive flair to the album, giving the album substance rather than taking anything away from it.

Here’s a track by track analysis of nectar:

• Ew: on the first track Joji talks about wanting to find someone who stays with him and not being the reason for heartbreak. This truly feels like a curtain raiser with gorgeous keys, violins and Joji’s incredible high-pitched vocal delivery. 

• MODUS: talking about being tied down with expectations and your own ambitions, Joji delivers a Rap and R&B track which follows the grand footsteps of the previous track. The instrumental is tilted towards the trap genre with trap drums merged with keys and strings.

• Tick Tock: a trip-hop, bedroom style production leads the way as Joji talks about wasting time while chasing materialistic things that aren’t as important as we claim that they are. 

• Daylight: Diplo and Joji have created a summer time banger in the form of ‘Daylight’. The gorgeous production and Joji’s melancholy soaked vocals create an ambient atmosphere. There’s something about this song that is both triumphant and celebratory while being dark and nostalgic at the same time. 

• Upgrade: an interlude to break things up, on upgrade Joji is seeing begging his loved one for a second chance over a very intimate and Lo-Fi production. 

• Gimme Love: Joji is beckoning for the attention and love of his lover and reflects on the pain that it causes him when it doesn’t happen. The track starts with a darker, lo-fi electronic instrumental that Joji is known for, featuring fast, clapping snares and droning synthesizers in the background and ends with hopeful tone with lush synths and an acoustic guitar.   

• Run: ‘Run’ is perhaps the best song on this record and one of the stand out tracks of 2020. On this cut, Joji goes the rock ways with a gorgeous electric guitar laced over Joji’s incredible vocal. I’m a sucker for guitar solos and this satisfies my inner rock fanatic with the dreamy guitar riff at the end. 

• Sanctuary: Joji refers to his lover as his Sanctuary or his safe place. ‘Sanctuary’ is a ballad song that features Joji’s melodic high pitched voice. The song depicts Joji’s emotions to a potential lover. With a more trap style instrumental, George’s vocals shine bright on this one. 

• High Hopes: an odd instrumental accentuates the beauty of this song. Both Joji and Omar Apollo talk about having high hopes towards their partner and the feelings they share for them. 

• NITROUS: a faster paced track then the ones that have followed, ‘NITROUS’ is a banger that will get you on your feet vibing to it. I just wish that this track was a little longer because it’s an absolute delight. 

• Pretty Boy: a very cheesy and flashly looking song on its surface, ‘Pretty Boy’ is Joji and Lil Yachty fighing his inner demons by putting on a confident exterior. This song presents the fattest groove and is the best feature that Lil Yachty has delivered in years. A song I was very sceptical about but now love. 

• Normal People: ‘Normal People’ is a somber Lo-Fi track with a chunky bass line. The duo talk about the phase in a relationship which seems like hitting rock bottom and them wanting to get out of it.

• Afterthought: ‘Afterthought’ is the song with the most lyrical substance in the entire tracklist. Both Joji and BENEE talk about a dysfunctional relationship and present two sides of a coin. This is the collab that will stick with people for some time as this sounds heavenly. 

• Mr. Hollywood: In the quintessential love song “Mr. Hollywood”, Joji describes how despite his stardom he doesn’t lose sight of what’s important and keeps himself grounded. With production from Kenny Beats, the song gets a great instrumental and the outro with a squeaky voice makes it even better.

• 777: the 80’s Synth pop ballad of Nectar, this cut features a layered beat with an array of elements coming together to form a dance haul experience. The production and the layered autotuned vocals lift this song to perfection. 

• Reanimator: a Tame Impala inspired song with a long drawn intro, Reanimator serves as an interlude for the last leg of the album. I wish this was a longer track that followed the into with a lush outro as this seems a little incomplete. 

• Like You Do: ‘Like You Do’ finds Joji reflecting on a relationship through an emotional piano ballad. He sings about how his and his partner’s dreams are leading them in different directions, and will inevitably end things between. 

• Your Man: the album closer is a ray of hope, with its positively reinforcing house beat. This shows Joji confronting his lover that he’s the one for her and is capable of giving her everything she wants. The perfect way to close this album. 

Imagine cruising down an empty road in your car with a pinkish sky in front of you. This is the kind of music that you would want to listen to in this situation. This record gives you everything with a Joji twist. Nectar seems like something that took time and effort to put together and looks like the right step for Joji in his career. Whether you’re a consistent fan of Joji’s or not, there is a track for everybody as it has a diverse set of songs with meaningful lyrics and a variety of instrumentals that can be quite the ear-worm. This album is spectacular and would go very high in 2020 album of the year list. I would rate this album a 9/10. Here is a link to the album if you want to check it out.