Nectar

It's been quite the journey seeing Joji develop as an artist. I still remember when, back in 2016, I would hear some of his 'Chloe Burbank' era tracks surface on SoundCloud and YouTube and thinking it was so bizarre that THE Filthy Frank could make music so... pleasant? Nowadays it's hard so see the man as anything other than a wildly popular alternative R&B artist with a unique sound and image, who may or may not have had a YouTube channel or something like that a couple of decades ago.

Joji's sophomore studio album 'Nectar' is an one which, in my opinion, feels completely like the natural next step for the artist: an album that is simultaneously accessible and fun enough to appeal to his newfound mainstream audience, while still displaying plenty of interesting ideas, fantastically assembled production as well as engaging and unique artistic directions for the fans who have watched him develop as an artist to hold on to and admire.

I would be lying if I said this album doesn't have some moments which definitely feel like Joji is trying out new ideas with little caution as to whether or not the final product is well-executed or fits in with the rest of the album ('Tick Tock', I'm looking at you), but those are admittedly scarce and take away a LOT less than fantastic tracks like 'Run', 'Sanctuary', 'Gimme Love', 'Pretty Boy' or 'Reanimator' add to my overall enjoyment of this here album.

So, as much as I'm not entirely blown away by any of the material here, this is still a very solid album and the long wait did turn out to be worth it, for me at least.