New Album Review ; "STARS" By Cocojoey

On the opening track of STARS, Joey Meland of Cocojoey delivers a chaotic mission statement, blending gentle vocals over placid keyboards with black metal screams, acid-damaged drum’n’bass, prog-rock twists, and feverish showtune energy. The track—and the EP as a whole—feels relentless and overstuffed with ideas, as Meland continually pushes the boundaries of genre and intensity. (Electronic)

Joey Meland starts the album STARS with a song that tells you what Cocojoey is, about. Joey Meland says "there are many things I want to do and I do not know which one to choose". At first Joey Meland sings this softly over some quiet keyboard music.. As the song goes on for three minutes the quiet music turns into loud black metal screams. The synths get all messed up into this drum and bass music then they switch to this weird rock music and these super energetic show tunes that seem like they are from some wild and scary dreams, in All That Jazz. The music is really fast and there are many ideas it is like Meland is trying to make it go even faster with each new song. Meland just keeps pushing the music to be more and more crazy.

Meland has always been really into music. They get bored easily. They started playing the piano when they were four years old. Then they tried all sorts of music like classical and black metal and noise before they even finished high school.

Meland went to school. Got a degree in music composition. After that they spent ten years playing music with bands, in Chicago. They played jazz and folk music and funk. Meland tried a bit of everything but they did not stick to just one thing. Meland kept trying things with music like Meland was searching for something. Then, during COVID lockdown, they took a pause from their busy schedule and experienced what they describe as a “spiritual transformation.” It led to a new clarity of purpose and the birth of Cocojoey—an exuberant, genre-smashing solo project that looks back at the disparate threads of their past and asks: What if instead of spreading themselves thin across all these projects, they did it all at the same time?

Melands previous album, Cocojoeys World had a messy and new sound. It was like the music was trying to get out with rough guitar parts coming out of video game sounds. The new album, STARS is the one from Cocojoey on the Hausu Mountain label. This one feels together and like they know what they are doing. Cocojoeys music on STARS is not over the place like it was before it is more focused. The sound of Cocojoey is still really weird and cool like something from a video game. Now it feels more like they are, in control of it. Melands music is really interesting on the song "COCOJOEY'S LACK, OF REGRETS". This is where you can hear all the things Meland likes all mixed together. The song has some sounds that might make you feel sick and some fast piano playing that sounds like a mix of different styles. Meland also raps in a way that sounds like they do not care. Sometimes they sound like they are screaming like people do in death metal music.

The song also has some crazy guitar playing from Fire-Toolz, who works with Meland a lot. This might help people understand what kind of otherworldly music Meland is making because it can be a little hard to follow. Meland is using a lot of sounds on this song and it is pretty out there. Fire-Toolz makes music that's really overwhelming and full of energy. The same thing can be said about Fire-Toolz and STARS. STARS music is also very heavy and serious at times. It is also very smart and playful. Fire-Toolz and STARS make their songs like they are building with blocks they put all the pieces together. Then they knock them down and laugh. They do this in a way that's very thoughtful but also very fun. Fire-Toolz and STARS are, like kids who build something cool and then they smash it on purpose just to see what happens.

The music may seem fun and carefree. Meland also uses the songs to deal with some serious issues. The song "TIME TO GO!" is about having thoughts that you do not want thinking about yourself much and trying to find a reason for living by making music. In the song "COCOJOEY'S LACK OF REGRETS" Meland talks about what it's like to live with a long term illness and even mentions the name of a health insurance company. The song "ANOTHER LIFE" has a lot of sounds and synths but it is actually about feeling depressed and staying in bed which is a pretty sad topic. Meland and the music of Meland is really good at mixing fun sounds with topics, like depression and chronic illness. It’s heavy stuff when you read the lyric sheet, but that gravity is almost entirely obscured by the unrestrained joy with which Meland approaches these hyperactive compositions. In this way, STARS posits one path to make your way through life’s challenges: Stay busy enough and you’ll barely notice the darkness.

Morgan Mason