JOJI // PIXELATED KISSES // SONG REVIEW

Since 2022, Joji has been painfully silent. Once dominating both charts and the internet with global sensation 'Glimpse of Us', the rapper disappeared off the radar, nowhere to be seen. I love Joji's music. A distinct blend of electronics and melodic gentle vocals, he has always walked a line between sheer chaos and gentle emotional ballads that scratches an itch in my brain. I first experienced his EP in 2017, and have stayed up to date with his releases since. Now, he's back with a new song 'PIXELATED KISSES', dropping out of nowhere, and here are my thoughts;

When I bang on about artists having 'one foot in the past and another in the present' I'm usually connoting to the fact that they're creating music that references their past work whilst also keeping something fresh and exciting. This not even two minute track does it in such a perfectly compact way - opening with one of the heaviest electronic beats I've heard. It booms on the low end, the bass injecting that element of pure chaos I expect from Joji.

Then in come the gentle vocals, perfectly sat in the mix, feeling somehow intimate even over the top of the punchy beat. It's his brand of introspective song writing to a T, distilled down to a bitesize chunk that cuts out any and all fat. Seemingly revolving around the themes of online relationships, it's only a chorus and a hook repeated twice - and I'm not mad about it, even though I want a little more!

If you ever needed an excuse to pick up Joji, now is the time, because this track, no matter how small, promises a lot coming soon.