Smithereens suggests Joji is out of ideas

Two years after his last album, Japanese-American singer-songwriter Joji released his most recent LP, Smithereens, on Nov. 4, 2022. Joji, a popular R&B artist, has captivated the alternative music industry ever since his 2018 debut album, BALLADS 1, which topped Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Chart and earned him nearly half a billion streams on Spotify alone.

With such massive success, the singer has since linked with 88-rising, a music collective and record label that supports artists of Asian backgrounds, after retiring from his past comedy-based career as a YouTube star. Joji is known for his depressive and introspective music which he has carried on into his new album.

The album consists of just nine tracks, significantly shorter than his previous full-length works, where he creates a melancholic mood under an alternative dream pop narrative. Similarly to Joji’s other works, Smithereens can be characterized by slow-paced piano, dreamy synths, and lofi-beats.

“Glimpse of Us,” the song that went viral on TikTok before debuting in the top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100, is included as the first track in the LP. It follows a simple piano ballad, while featuring some of Joji’s best vocals. “Glimpse of Us” tells the story of memorable past relationships and the difficulty of letting go. Joji established a sort of intimate and quiet feel with this song by solely relying on slow-paced piano chords, as compared to the majority of his songs that include vocal effects and heavy beats.

“Die For You,” in addition to “Glimpse of Us,” has been critically-acclaimed as the song that carried Smithereens for its relaxing soundscape and notable lyricism. Joji writes about watching a past lover move on while still having deep feelings for them. He shows this helpless acceptance as he sings “It kills me a little, that’s okay / ‘Cause I’d die for you”.

However, many once-eager fans were let down by the LP. Smithereens is certainly not an adventurous piece as compared to what Joji is famous for. The album sounds and upholds themes of heartbreak and fatal romance that have been boringly consistent with all of his other songs, making it sound rushed, lazy, and uninteresting. His recent LP is not nearly as captivating as his previous works; the album in its entirety is not particularly relistenable.

In contrast, his last LPs, Nectar and BALLADS 1, were both much longer in length than Smithereens. Critics and fans praised BALLADS 1 for its unique and new sound, as Joji was still relatively a new artist at its release. The

LP was considered his breakthrough album, as “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” quickly reached the top charts and was overall one of the most popular songs of 2019. Nectar, Joji’s 2020 album had outstandingly high ratings and fixed Joji’s persona and value in the music industry. Nectar’s variety of featured songs, by artists including Yves Tumor, Omar Apollo, and Lil Yachty, brought Joji additional fame.

Within the album itself, every track follows the same, loosely constructed instrumentals accompanied by breathy vocals and a slow lofi-beat. Such repetition made for a lackluster final piece, which gave listeners the impression that Joji is incapable of a larger range of songwriting. After such a lengthy break following his last release, Smithereens had the chance to prove the singer’s growth in variety, but only proved to be a massive disappointment.

Nonetheless, it is arguable that the soft, mellow vibe of the album would make for great background noise while studying, cooking, cleaning, or sleeping. Some fans have since claimed that listening to this album cured their insomnia.

For the most part, Smithereens was a let down for several fans, so Joji has his career to prove and his potential to fill with whatever he releases next.