Listen: Pei - Themesong

Photo by Hudson Reed 

From the magical musical mind of Joji Malani comes the solo project Pei, announcing his debut album Pei’s Pageant out this October with the release of a triumphant track titled Themesong - out today. Pronounced pay, Pei is a Fijian word for baby, a name which pays tribute to Joji’s roots, the now Sydney-based via London artist nestled up inside the home studio of close friend and longtime collaborator Tim Fitz (Middle Kids) after almost a decade of writing in studios and touring the world in the full spectrum of transportation modes.

Sounding just as uplifting and anthemic as you’d expect a song titled Themesong would, it’s a lush orchestral take rich with layers of horns, strings and "The banjo I bought from Fleetwood Mac!" Joji reveals. "It was made for Lindsey Buckingham but then given to Neil Finn who I then bought it from." With a slight backpedal on the musical layers in verses and chorus', Pei’s soulful vocals shine through like a warm ray of sunshine uncovering wise and melodic twists and turns in the singles narrative. 

On the release, Joji shares that "I literally woke up one day with the melody. I wouldn’t say I dreamt about it, but I woke up and was like, “Fuck, I can’t get this melody out of my head.” It sounded like the M*A*S*H theme song. At the time, a friend I had made, who was best friends with the Mumford & Sons guys, wanted to start a football podcast with me. He’d been talking to me about it and I just thought, “Why don’t I write a theme song for this podcast?” Obviously, that podcast never happened, I moved back here and I still never told him that I tried to write a theme song for it."

With Pei’s full LP set for release October 10 via Broth Records, we can expect more incredible sounds and hopefully more intriguing stories to come - but for now be sure to revel in Themesong below.

Follow Pei:  INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK / TWITTER