Album review: Joji’s Piss in the Wind
By Michael Sarsito, May 5 2026—
Perhaps Joji’s latest album, Piss in the Wind, is just that — literally pointless. After SMITHEREENS left fans desperate for another heart-wrenching album, Joji managed to produce something that not only left fans hungry, but also left something of a bad aftertaste. Maybe this is what he envisions it to be—an experimental album to satisfy his artistic expression.
Piss in the Wind is the first album released independently by Joji through his own record label, Palace Creek, after his departure from 88rising. This album has everything that fans know and love about the alternative R&B singer. From his impressively devastating delivery, melancholic soundscapes and lyrics that would leave even the emotionally guarded listener reaching for the tissues; yet somehow it still feels like a work in progress. The biggest sin that this 21-track album makes is in its individual lengths, where a staggering 10 of them barely make it to the two-minute mark. Calling them songs almost feels generous, if anything they feel more like mood pieces or soundscape fillers. Tracks like “Cigarette,” “Forehead Touch the Ground” and “Dior” are guilty of this sin. They have a distinct sonic identity that complements the entire album, but at the same time, they do not add anything to the overall narrative — they simply exist. However, this album is not all bad. We still get some heavy hitters like the raw, gritty and distorted bass of “PIXELATED KISSES”, to the harrowing ballad, “Past Won’t Leave My Bed.”
Sonically, the album weaves a rather surprisingly consistent soundscape with tracks like “PIXELATED KISSES”, “If It Only Gets Better” and “Tarmac” sharing a similar blown out bass sound that grounds the entire record in a deep, rumbling frequency. Joji builds his emotional architecture around distorted 808 sub-basss, using them not just as sound but as a feeling — a physical substitute for the things words alone fail to convey. Compared to his earlier, more melodic ballads heavily relying on words and melody to carry grief; here, he lets the bass do the grieving. It’s chaotic. It’s cold. It’s the sonic equivalent of emotional numbness rendered in sound waves, and it works perfectly because it doesn’t try to be beautiful, it just tries to be honest. On top of that, Joji is not afraid of using more distorted, grainy, lo-fi synth textures with tracks like “Last of a Dying Breed” and “Sojourn”; pushing Joji further away from his usual polished, melancholic style and intimate vocals towards a more experimental production. This juxtaposition emphasizes that indescribable apocalyptic feeling of the brief intimacy in a relationship that listeners already know is temporary.
Even with this album being more on the experimental side, this is still Joji’s album, and he never strays too far from what he does best — a melancholic ballad. “Past Won’t Leave My Bed” is arguably the centerpiece of the album. Just like “Glimpse of Us” (from SMITHEREENS) and “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” (from Ballads 1), this ballad speaks of a quiet devastation that does not talk loudly of its emotional weight, but instead lets it build up slowly. Verse by verse, beat by beat. Sitting quietly on your chest—slowly burning you from the inside. This haunting track about the past, memories and being unable to move on from that one past relationship, will leave any listeners unconsciously remembering about that one person, whose name still catches in the throat at the worst possible time. The cruelty of “Past Won’t Leave My Bed” is Joji at his best.
Piss in the Wind feels more authentic to Joji. Maybe the pointless mood pieces or soundscape fillers was his goal. Creating an album that perfectly describes the pointless feelings that go nowhere like a stream of piss flying into oblivion.
Piss in the Wind is not an album that failed to be great, it is an album that is heading in a new direction. It just wants to be real and fans who are willing to sit with this new direction will find something that stays with them long after the last track fades.
To listen to the whole album, visit the link here Piss in the Wind.