Joji Piss In The Wind

Critic's Take

The ballad aficionado Joji on Piss In The Wind teases brilliance with brief flashes - songs like “Tarmac”, “Fade to Black” and “Silhouette Man” show promise but are cut short. Kayla Torres writes with a frustrated admiration, noting the sprawling 21-track collection as a playground of half-formed ideas rather than cohesive songs. For listeners asking "best songs on Piss In The Wind" or "best tracks on Piss In The Wind," the review points to “Tarmac” and “Fade to Black” as the clearest highlights, examples of peak Joji caught mid-gesture but not fully realised.

Key Points

• Tarmac is best because it contains concrete pockets of promise and feels like a fully formed glimpse of Joji's peak.
• The album's core strength is experimentation and brief moments of peak Joji, but its weakness is many underdeveloped, short tracks.

Themes

Critic's Take

Hi, everyone. Halfthony Timetano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and Joji's Piss in the Wind has a couple of moments that land, most notably “Past Won't Leave My Bed” and a few sparse piano-led numbers. In the voice of this review, the best tracks on Piss in the Wind are those rare, quieter songs where Joji's moody ballad instincts cut through the filler, with “Past Won't Leave My Bed” standing out as the clearest highlight. Otherwise the record reads as fragmented, directionless, a longer set of sketches rather than a cohesive album, so the best songs are simply the ones that feel finished and sincere.

Key Points

• The best song is “Past Won't Leave My Bed” because it is a genuinely beautiful piano highlight amid filler.
• The album's core strengths are occasional spare moments and Joji's moody ballad instincts, but these are swamped by derivative, low-effort tracks.

Themes

Critic's Take

The review argues that Joji often sounds distant and unknowable on Piss In The Wind, but the best tracks - “PIXELATED KISSES” and “Sojourn” - wake the record with noisy, aggressive production that truly bangs. Mehan Jayasuriya praises those moments of darkwave and distorted synths while noting that most ballads like “Last of a Dying Breed” and “Love Me Better” only partially succeed, because Joji’s lyrics stay unspecific and his delivery remains detached. The review frames the album as a stylistic upgrade in places, yet ultimately short on personality and vulnerability, leaving only a few compelling tracks as highlights.

Key Points

• The best song is "PIXELATED KISSES" because its distorted synths and clattering drums give the album a necessary jolt.
• The album’s core strengths are its occasional adventurous production choices and moments of darkwave or aggressive sound.

Themes

Critic's Take

Joji has always been at his best with a heartbreak ballad, and on Piss In The Wind the album’s best songs - “Love You Less” and “If It Only Gets Better” - showcase that uncanny ability to sound utterly heartbroken while avoiding schmaltz. The reviewer lingers on the unpolished charm and bleary shoegaze of “Love You Less” and praises the folky fingerpicked intimacy of “If It Only Gets Better”, even as both end too soon. Yet the record is scattershot, with promising tracks buried amid sketches and club experiments that rarely develop, meaning the best tracks feel like tantalising glimpses rather than full statements.

Key Points

• ‘Love You Less’ is the best song because its unpolished shoegaze and Joji’s vocal clarity create raw emotional impact.
• The album’s core strengths are Joji’s talent for ballads and evocative production, undermined by too many fleeting sketches and underdeveloped ideas.

Themes

Critic's Take

Don’t let the crunchy early singles fool you - on Piss in the Wind Joji leans into maudlin, restless sketches that rarely resolve, yet songs like “Pixelated Kisses” and “Piece of You (with Giveon)” show how his knack for leaving listeners wanting more becomes a strange strength. Helen Brown notes the record’s sketchy, underdeveloped feel but also its graceful, open-ended melodies, so the best tracks - notably “Pixelated Kisses” and “Piece of You (with Giveon)” - feel intentionally brief and evocative. The result is an album where the best songs reward repeat listens for their unfinished tenderness rather than tidy radio-ready hooks.

Key Points

• The best song, "Pixelated Kisses", succeeds by intentionally leaving listeners wanting more and capturing Joji’s knack for brief, evocative hooks.
• The album’s core strengths are its graceful, open-ended melodies, emotive guest moments, and a consistent mood of maudlin, internet-aged yearning.

Themes

Critic's Take

On Joji's Piss In The Wind the best songs sit where melancholia and texture meet, notably “PIXELATED KISSES” and “Past Won't Leave My Bed”. The reviewer leans into Joji's familiar torment and introspection, praising the album's nostalgic timbres while noting a mixtape-like looseness that leaves some ideas half-realised. “PIXELATED KISSES” is singled out as a blown-out overture that retains nostalgia and melancholy, and the balladry of “Past Won't Leave My Bed” slots neatly into Joji's ballad book. For listeners searching for the best tracks on Piss In The Wind, these songs exemplify the record's most affecting moments without promising the concise hits of SMITHEREENS.

Key Points

• The best song moments are where texture and melancholic nostalgia converge, exemplified by “PIXELATED KISSES”.
• The album's core strengths are authentic mood, consistent themes of rumination, and textured sonic palettes despite a loose, mixtape-like structure.

Themes