Nectar / Joji / September 25, 2020
- Joshua Yoo
- Sep 28, 2020
- 2 min read
As George Miller (Joji) himself describes it, his songs “have about the same contents as any regular pop song but are dished with an often sideways view.” His second studio album seems to be a continuation of this mindset, but more bold and expansive. From the more daring production choices, to the greater array of genres, “Nectar” breaks out of the moody R&B shell of his previous project, feeling more artistically free in both its good parts and bad parts.
Bigger and better production is an obvious improvement in many cases, where elements such as deeply driving drum patterns (“Daylight”), gorgeous vocal layering and string arrangements (“Gimme Love”), and electric guitar solos (“Run”) are all lucrative in their impact, breathing life and energy into Joji’s performances that he sometimes has lacked in the past. He delivers some of his most lively and cinematic moments of instrumentation ever (“Sanctuary”), but he also retains an affinity for his lofi-R&B sound, with dry, rougher instrumentals and more straightforward arrangement found especially on the second leg of the album. While Joji manages to find poignancy in some of these tracks (“Afterthought”), some also fall to issues of lackluster energy or vocal haziness that his previous work was sometimes plagued by (“High Hopes”).
Joji’s voice again varies a bit stylistically throughout the tracklist, but the high points are marked by uncharacteristically stronger and more polished vocal delivery, where his emotional presence can be felt refreshingly clearly (“Mr. Hollywood”). Much less often does he fall back onto the distant and sluggish vocals that struggled to elicit any convincing mood.
The goal of expanding his artistry further and further each project has bared promising fruit on this album. It’s indicative of even greater heights for the future if he continues on his current trajectory.
Best Track(s): Sanctuary, Afterthought, Gimme Love, Run, Mr. Hollywood, Daylight, Like You Do
Lowlight(s): Tick Tock, Your Man, Pretty Boy, High Hopes
SCORE: 7/10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-uWlFq380M
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