Recently, Joji released his long awaited album, Smithereens, and compared to previous work, this album is amazing. As always, Joji incorporates his beautiful melancholy vocals into the instrumental. Whether it be a high note or a low note, he finds a way to give his melody more life. The album has a total of 9 songs, with a run time of 23 minutes. There was also a song pre-released to the album that went tremendously viral. This song being one of my favorites, as well as our first track in the album, Glimpse Of Us.

Glimpse Of Us has over 600 million plays on Spotify, reigning as one of Joji’s top songs. This song has a nice slow piano instrumental that really complements Joji’s melodic voice, mainly sustaining a high key. Some argue that due to its insane popularity, the song is overplayed, and therefore it is bad. I highly disagree, while it is played a lot, it has the ability to be played repeatedly and still hit as hard as the first time.  This song is absolutely beautiful and I give it a 10 out of 10. 

Feeling Like The End is next in the album, having more of an upbeat vibe than its previous track. The instruments include a smooth sounding guitar, layered with a good beat. This song feels like a post-break up type of track. With the hook receding- “too many too many things we did together, you used to promise me it would be forever.” Although with a short run time, I’d give this song a 7 out of 10. 

Die For You is next, and this track is pretty solid. It feels like a classic Joji song. Nice and slow, as well as incorporating calmness into a sad vibe. The instrumental sounds absolutely amazing, almost like a lofi beat. I’d give this track an 8 out of 10. 

Next on the list is Before The Day Is Over. It has a beautiful piano instrumental, with also what sounds like Joji’s voice, mixed into it. The way Joji layers his voice in the chores sounds immaculate. Almost like a choir signing a beautiful melody. This song is also an 8 out of 10. 

Oh boy, Dissolve, is next. Probably being my least favorite on the album, This song is just ok. Nothing really stands out to me musically. It has a decent guitar instrumental, but it doesn’t really work with his voice as well as other tracks. 5 out of 10.

Night Rider is next, and it’s my favorite. This instrumental is amazing. The main aspect of it being vocals mixed differently, with a nice simple beat. Joji sings a little faster compared to his normal tempo range. 9 out of 10. 

BLAHBLAHBLAH demo is pretty good. It’s another guitar based song, but the melody complements Joji’s voice way more compared to Dissolve. Towards the end of the track, the instrumental gets really low, having a nice bass to it. 7 out of 10

Yukon Interlude is next, and it’s another favorite from the album. It has very good lyrics and a very nice instrumental. The piano and beat work very well with each other, kind of playing off of each other. If you are new to Joji’s music, this would be a recommendation I’d give. 9 out of 10.

1am Freestyle is up and behind Glimpse Of Us, it’s my second favorite. It opens up with a deep and slow tone, but speeds up and lightens up simultaneously. He also adds his voice to the instrumental which always sounds good. But what really sells me is 2 times throughout the song, the instrumental stops, and lets Joji take it away. 10 out of 10. 

Smithereens is an absolute banger of an album, topping some of Joji’s old ones. As well as topping the charts, even though it has tough competition, facing off against Drake and 21 Savage’s album, Her Loss.  Overall it’s a 9 out of 10 and it’s definitely worth a listen.