Recommended Tracks: “Piece of You”, “DYKILY”, “Horses To Water”, “LOVE YOU LESS”
Artists you may like: Keshi, Still Woozy, James Blake
Joji has always been good at making music that feels half-there, like it showed up late and might leave early without saying goodbye. Piss In The Wind leans into that instinct completely. It’s not an album that wants to impress you so much as sit next to you, shrug a little, and let the moment pass.
The structure alone tells you what kind of record this is: 14 interludes, 7 full songs, and a whole lot of negative space. For some listeners, it may be frustrating since Joji usually releases songs with more length, but it also feels intentional. These songs don’t rush to explain themselves. They show up, do one small emotional thing, and disappear. Tracks like “PIXELATED KISSES,” “Fade to Black,” and “Fragments” feel more like fleeting thoughts than finished statements, the musical equivalent of realizing something important and then immediately changing the subject.
A lot of the conversation around the album on X just a few short hours from its release has focused on how short it is, but there’s something kind of honest about that. Joji doesn’t stretch these ideas just because he can. Even when a track feels like it could go somewhere bigger, he lets it end before it turns into spectacle. “Last of a Dying Breed” floats by with the energy of a really good almost-song, and instead of fixing that, Joji lets the almost be the point.
Not everything here is meant to linger, and that’s okay. Some interlude-leaning moments feel more like mood pieces than destinations, small pauses that keep the album airy instead of overcrowded. The real emotional weight shows up later, when Joji finally lets the songs breathe. “LOVE YOU LESS,” “Past Won’t Leave My Bed,” “Piece of You,” “Sojourn,” and “DYKILY” feel settled in their sadness, like he’s done running from it. “Sojourn,” especially, lands hard; not because it’s dramatic, but because it feels complete in a way that makes you realize the restraint elsewhere was a choice, not a limitation.
Stacking the longer songs toward the end gives the album a quiet sense of movement. The first half drifts. The second half stays put. It’s the emotional arc of realizing you’ve been floating for a while and finally deciding to sit down with how you feel.
Piss In The Wind isn’t flashy, and it’s definitely not eager to win you over. It’s understated, a little frustrating, and oddly comforting in its refusal to be bigger than it needs to be. Joji isn’t chasing a grand statement here; he’s letting things pass, trusting that if something really matters, you’ll feel it even in the smallest moment.
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