In 200 Words: Piss In The Wind - Joji

For someone who intentionally evolved from Filthy Frank and Pink Guy into a serious alt R&B artist, Piss In The Wind feels like another step in the wrong direction for Joji’s catalogue. It feels wrong that an early single like Slow Dancing in the Dark still sets the standard three albums later, but that tension and control eclipse most of what is here.

Joji’s monotony once worked in his favor. Take 2018’s Yeah Right, where restraint felt deliberate. On Piss in the Wind’s track Tarmac, when he admits, “I keep waiting to not care,” the vocal barely moves. That kind of line should ache. Instead, it just sits there. What once felt controlled now feels disengaged.

There are glimpses of something stronger. Pixelated Kisses opens loud and urgent, chaotic in a way that works. Sojourn feels immersive and cinematic with that same chaos. The issue isn’t cohesion, it’s direction. Those two songs point toward a bolder, more compelling lane that Joji never fully commits to.

Instead, too much of the project leans on airy “oohs” and muted, lazy atmosphere.

It has been painful to watch the slide into mediocrity. This feels less like evolution and more like clear stagnation.