YouTube superstar-turned-serious musician George Miller has many aliases. You may recognize him from his YouTube channel “Filthy Frank,” where Miller reached meme stardom and amassed 6 million subscribers. Maybe you recognize him as Pink Guy, Miller’s alter ego whose 2017 comedy rap album Pink Season reached No. 70 on the Billboard charts.

Or maybe you recognize Miller as the much more serious, melodic musician Joji.

I’ve always felt Miller’s music under the Joji moniker is _almost_ great. On his debut EP “In Tongues”, the tracks felt too similar and his vocals were lacking at times, but he had some great ideas on that record. That same potential appears on Joji’s new LP “BALLADS 1,” but again, it doesn’t quite get over the hill.

The best showcase of Joji’s potential on “BALLADS 1” is the song “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK”, a three-and-a-half minute R&B anthem showcasing beautiful, shiny synthesizers and Joji’s improved vocals. Another standout is the track “YEAH RIGHT” which, like “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK,” features lyrics about a complicated relationship. The track’s catchy vocal melody and lo-fi, exuberant production make it one of the most fully-realized songs on the album. The minimally-produced track “CAN’T GET OVER YOU” features an earworm bassline from bass legend Thundercat and vocals from A$AP Rocky producer Clams Casino.

Unfortunately, the interesting songs on “BALLADS 1” are matched by some underdeveloped songs and failed risks. “TEST DRIVE” is uninteresting and Joji ends up sounding like a Post Malone copycat by the end. The opening track, “ATTENTION,” starts with some great vocal melodies, but Joji puts gimmicky lo-fi distortion on the chorus, which feels like a cheap trick. Similar to “ATTENTION,” the song “WHY AM I STILL IN LA” starts slow and builds to what sounds like is about to be an amazing climax, only to crash into yet another anticlimactic verse.

The good news is “BALLADS 1” is a big improvement over “In Tongues.” Sure, “BALLADS 1” suffers from a lot of the same mistakes “In Tongues” made, but “BALLADS 1” demonstrates Joji is on the cusp of a great album. “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” is a single of the year contender and songs like “YEAH RIGHT” and “CAN’T GET OVER YOU” prove Joji has the musical acumen to pull it off. Joji may not have an outstanding album under his belt yet, but pay attention, because “BALLADS 1” proves he’ll have one soon.

_Edited by Siena DeBolt | sdebolt@themaneater.com_