Joji – Pixelated Kisses

Back in my day we only got 480 kisses…

[Video]
[5.78]

Nortey Dowuona: F1lthy RNB. Good idea. Needs a stronger voice to carry it. But the drum programming is good, and after this, you should’ve seen that coming.
[7]

Taylor Alatorre: “End credits of a Hulu original series trying to ride on the coattails of Netflix’s Adolescence”-type beat. The no-effort glitchgaze textures don’t grate as much upon subsequent listens, mainly because they function more as symbol than as sound: here’s the generationally symptomatic doomer isolation you ordered, sir. Joji is being lapped by producers half his age when it comes to this kind of thing, and in their case the “Pixelated” is so assumed as to go unstated. 
[4]

Ian Mathers: Even as an instrumental this would rank high for me. I wasn’t sure about the vocals at first, but the more I listen the more they work as another sonic texture in the mix. This is something like three vicious earworms stacked together, and I mean that as a compliment.
[9]

Katherine St. Asaph: Imagine time-traveling to 2012 and telling someone that in the future, Filthy Frank now sounds more like The Weeknd than The Weeknd has for over a decade. (Realistically, you’ll probably find someone fairly quickly who’s really into that idea; send them back in your place.)
[7]

Jel Bugle: A sort of nothing-in-particular song, some crunchy synths with a guy singing over the top. It really doesn’t do much for me. If he were not a YouTuber/personality, this would probably have 23 views. The power of content. 
[5]

Al Varela: I kinda get it if this song is meant to be more of a statement of purpose rather than a full-fledged single, but even then I’m really not getting much out of this. The blown-out production, blocky percussion, Joji mumbling his way through the noise — it’s all really unpleasant and boring. None of the mystique or ethereal atmosphere of Joji’s best material is present; this sounds like something an underground SoundCloud act could do better. 
[4]

Julian Axelrod: This sounds like Playboi Carti if Playboi Carti looked like all the sensitive e-boys who listen to Playboi Carti.
[6]

Alfred Soto: Oh, for 10 minutes of that buzz-grind, with the semi-sweet vocal as the candy coating.
[7]

Andrew Karpan: Somehow manages by sheer ruthless will, to accomplish what could be best be described as somewhere between late-period Bon Iver voice and vaguely mis-remembered AWOLNATION. No, I don’t think I’m going to listen to “Sail” ever again either. 
[3]