Sticking with the soothing and strange sound, Joji released his first full album titled BALLADS 1. The album dropped on October 26, 2018 through 88rising Records and 12Tone Music. The face behind the music is George Miller, a college student from New York.
The artist known as Joji used to have a YouTube character named Filthy Frank where he would do extremely dangerous and disgusting stunts. Eventually, his body could not handle the torture he was putting it through. He turned to music and created Joji to give his body a rest. The first songs he made as Joji were originally kept a secret from his fan base because they preferred his offensive songs. The songs released and were able to remain hidden only for a little while before fans found out that it was him. One of those songs includes “Will He,” which later debuted in his EP In Tongues.
“Will your tongue still remember the taste of my lips? Will your shadow remember the swing of my hips?” ~Will He
The title of the new album encapsulates the entire album. A ballad is a slow sentimental or romantic song, and that is perfectly captured in every song. The song I found that was the most ballad-like had to be “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” because of its soothing melody and melancholy lyrics.
“Give me reasons we should be complete. You should be with him, I can’t compete. You looked at me like I was someone else. I don’t want to slow dance in the dark.” ~SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK
The first time I fully listened to the album, I fell in love with three particular songs. Those songs include “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK”, “ATTENTION”, and “YEAH RIGHT”. I loved “ATTENTION” because lots of people could definitely relate to the lyrics while also enjoying the melody of the song.
“When you cry, you waste your time over boys you never liked. Can you not be so obvious? So keep it light.” ~ATTENTION
I would recommend this album to anyone with anxiety that needs to calm down or anyone who enjoys soothing music with a message. Overall, I thought the album was calming and nice to listen to.
