Last Friday, Joji released his highly anticipated second studio album Nectar and while there have been many mixed reviews, loyal fans have been raving nonstop about the smooth transitions and retro vibe. If you have never listened to or heard of Joji before, sit back, relax and pull out your earbuds because I am here to provide a totally, 100% not biased in any way, detailed review of each song and answer the big question: Nectar- flop, fine, or fantastic?
The first track on the album is “Ew” and in my opinion, is the exact opposite of the title. The slow piano and violin add an orchestral feeling and the high voiced, autotuned chorus contrast the verses in a unique and alarming way—it’s good, I promise. In the outro, the crunchy piano notes will leave you with an unfinished feeling, but this makes you want more and sets the listener up perfectly for the next track: “MODUS”.
Now this song sits close to the top of my list of favorites, although it is an acquired taste. The rhythm is quite unexpected as the beginning is again, just a piano. The crunchy vocals add a bit of flavor to the slow beginning, but once the beat drops, I promise you will want to sit in a chair and just vibe. Play this song on repeat and I guarantee you will knock out that English essay faster than you ever have.
The next track “Tick Tock” gives of big Brockhampton vibes, but I was a little disappointed. It is for sure the slowest song (bpm) on the album and as someone who bases song likeability on danceability, I can’t see myself jumping around my dorm room to this song. It’s more of a “late-night sleep song” than anything else. The music video, however, is cool and I highly recommend checking it out.
“Daylight” featuring Diplo is next and this also ranks as one of my favorites. This song was released about two months prior to the album release and you would’ve 100% found me playing it as loud as possible while driving down country roads back home. This is a classic “summer hit” that will put you in a better mood and will prompt some fun shoulder swinging and head bopping. Again, I highly recommend checking out the music video for this one—it’s very… Interesting.
The next song on Nectar is “Upgrade” which is the most retro out of all of the tracks. It is so short I would consider it more of an interlude than an actual song. It is not the most engaging piece ever made, but it is a great foot-tapping tune that honestly is nothing phenomenal.
Prior to Nectar’s release the next three tracks, “Gimmie Love”, “Sanctuary”, and “Run” had been released. Each had gained significant popularity, amassing over 370 million Spotify streams altogether. To be honest, I understand the hype. “Gimmie Love”, which was popularized by TikTok trends, is so upbeat, while “Sanctuary” is beautifully uplifting. My favorite of the three is “Run” by far. I can already imagine myself chilling to the subtle rock tune and playing it during my weekly sad boi hours. These three songs are deservingly well-loved.
The second collaboration is “High Hopes” featuring Omar Apollo. I have to say I was pretty shocked when I saw this combination, but this song went straight to my “studying” playlist. The slow, bass guitar line and layered voices really add some complexity to this actually simple song. Apollo and Joji’s voices go together like peanut butter and jelly – scrumptious.
Ah yes, we have arrived at my personal favorite song on this album. Remember earlier when I said I base likeability on danceability? Well, NITROUS takes the cake for the most danceable in my opinion. I was totally not prancing around my dorm room the first time I listened to this…. The only bad thing about this song is that it is only 2 minutes long; it’s tragic.
It’s pretty sad how Joji placed the best song and worst song right after each other because “Pretty Boy” featuring Lil Yachty just is not it. I am so sorry to any Lil Yachty fans, but their styles just DO NOT mix. Don’t waste your time on this one and if you want to like it, don’t listen to the Joji part… it’s kind of painful.
I had never heard of rei brown prior to his collaboration on this album, but he and Joji’s song “Normal People” is nice. This also was added to my study playlist because its slow, calming, and overall, not distracting. This track gives off Khalid vibes so if that’s your cup of tea, this is the song for you.
The best partnership from Nectar is “Afterthought” featuring Benee. Ok, I would have never expected this collab EVER, but their voices go together like BREAD and BUTTER. Benee killed her verse and the outro is just *chef’s kiss*. I could go on and on about how good this song is, but I guess you must go listen for yourself. (please go listen it is worth it)
Another great song is “Mr. Hollywood”. I could envision this playing on the radio and the chorus is extremely satisfying. I have a feeling this song will really take off soon. Similarly, “777” has the potential to be the next TikTok sound. The upbeat chorus is super vibey and I could see a video of Charli D’Amelio dancing around her kitchen to it go super viral.
Ok, the next song is a little weird. It takes half the song for any beat to drop and it really is just a wall of sound for most of it. “Reanimator” featuring Yves Tumor is… interesting. It has a lot of beeping noises and really isn’t much of a singing song. If that’s what you like, check it out, but other than that, it’s skippable.
There are two songs left and I couldn’t have picked any two different songs to place after one another. “Like You Do” is beautiful and would be perfect to play if you needed a good cry after a hard exam… every album needs one of those. “Your Man” is the opposite. It is what I like to call “shopping music”. I can see myself walking through Pac Sun or Forever 21, picking through sweaters at the mall with this song playing in the background. If I was Joji, I would’ve swapped their placement in the tracklist.
Overall, I would say Nectar falls in between fantastic and fine, so I would have to say it’s finetastic? Joji released a very long, but mostly great album and I personally can’t wait to see what he does next. Most of the collaborations did not disappoint and I highly recommend watching the music videos that have been released. Check out this ranked list (in my opinion) of all the songs from worst to best :)
Yea:
- NITROUS
- Afterthought
- MODUS
- Ew
- Daylight
- Run
- Mr. Hollywood
- Gimmie Love
- Like You Do
- Sanctuary
Eh:
- 777
- Tick Tock
- Normal People
- High Hopes
- Your Man
Bleh:
- Upgrade
- Reanimator
- Pretty Boy