Score: 4/5
Djo summons new musical directions for his third studio album, a mostly successful venture that capitalizes on the success of the softer sounding “End of Beginning.”
I’m a recent but hardcore fan of Stranger Things star Joe Keery’s musical persona, Djo, so I was incredibly excited when he announced his third studio album, The Crux, which released on April 4.
The leadup to this album featured the early releases of “Basic Being Basic” and “Delete Ya,” two laid-back tracks that embody enthusiastic and mournful tones respectively, but harness the same catchy riffs and choruses that made so many great songs on DECIDE — Djo’s second album, which featured the hugely popular “End of Beginning.”
It was surprising, then, that so much of The Crux features classic-rock influences like Fleetwood Mac and Queen, but it’s understandable. Each of Djo’s albums has harnessed a different energy: Twenty Twenty was particularly psych-rock while DECIDE was electronic, but those albums were connected by a sound that was uniquely “Djo,” and that remains true in The Crux.
The album begins with “Lonesome Is A State of Mind,” a track that starts melancholic, reflecting on the repetitive nature of life: “I’ve seen this movie before / I think I’ve heard this song,” Djo sings in a soft voice. This tone quickly bounces into something more hopeful as the instrumentals swell into an upbeat and enthusiastic chorus that retains sadness in the background, a feat accomplished by keening vocals and airy notes: “You’re not lonely / When you’re hanging with yourself.”
The song sets the tone for the rest of the album: one that will continue to balance hope and mourning with startling deftness and grace.
“Basic Being Basic” jumps into the fray next, showcasing Djo’s monotonous, bouncing vocals amidst an almost eight-bit, synth instrumental backing, both elements something fans will recall from DECIDE.
The first chorus establishes a cheerful mood that continues to jump through the rest of the song until the intoxicating and thumping bridge, but the upbeat tone betrays the lyrics, which reflect on how complicated and potentially sad a “basic” life is:
“Change your body, change your face, curl your hair then make it straight / […] / It’s a flash photograph / What an empty epitaph that is (That’s basic).”
And finally, if you’ve ignored the lyrics and simply grooved along to the song, the ending hits you in the face with its plain final line, suddenly delivered without tone or musical background: “Yeah, my tight five might get a laugh as is / If that’s funny, [plainly] I’m not funny.”
Next up is “Link,” the first classic rock song of the album, with electric riffs driving the listener through lyrics about feeling empty after supposedly achieving success and realizing that sometimes, the prescribed path isn’t the one that makes you happy — something I’m sure a lot of soon-to-be graduates can understand.
The song is a wild success, showcasing Djo’s ability to embody a rock n’ roll timbre adjacent to “Flash Mountain” way back on Twenty Twenty. Djo jives triumphantly here, championing everyone who would stray from the norm: “I said hey! / A link is breaking out of the chain!”
If you told me “Potion,” the album’s fourth track, was a lost Fleetwood Mac song, I would believe you. The jaunty strings and Djo’s falsetto lyrics detailing his search for a lover “who leaves on the lights” pull at your chest in the best way. Once again, the emotional resonance here is undeniably rich, making for a simple song that hits all the right notes.
“Delete Ya,” the other previously released song from this album, will resonate most with fans of “End of Beginning.” The content is strikingly similar, dealing with nostalgia and love for a past place and lover that feel impossible to let go of. “Oh God, I wish I could delete ya / ‘Cause nothing can compete with ya,” croons Djo in yet another sombre track that you can’t help but sing and dance along to.
The song displays just how technically complex Djo’s music has become. His previous two albums contained this same dichotomy, but it feels distilled to perfection in the first half of The Crux, emotional and moody but contagiously sticky. And this time, the bleak ending of “Delete Ya” — “One heart could bleed for the future us / If we were young, but this is done” — leads into another bleak song.
“Egg” begins with a murky, electronic beat and more of Djo’s low, almost-whispered vocals detailing the speaker’s uncertainty and dissatisfaction: “Don’t you wish you could be somebody else?”
The whole song is a gradual building-up of pressure, with haunting instrumentals resonating like unsaid horrors lurking beneath the surface until the tension breaks with Djo’s rageful screams mounting into a startling cut.
But there is no relief in this song: the building tension resumes as twinkling overtures, haunting voices and other instrumentals — including a saxophone in the final seconds — overlap and finally go silent.
With all that pressure, the next song, “Fly,” provides some soothing relief with its airy, acoustic guitar thrums and breezy vocals. The pain of the previous song is evident here, with a speaker craving to fall back into old comforts after a long, loveless winter: “When will spring come again? I need the bloom,” sings Djo. “Falling back to her / Could be easy to do / But I must fly / Fly away from her.”
Ultimately, the song embodies a liminal space between life stages, reflected by the psychedelic, echoing instrumentals and the vocals that drift between stanzas. It is another hauntingly beautiful song that ends with a triumphant chord and equally triumphant lyrics: “Wind is at your back now / Carry me away now.”
Fittingly, the next song begins with a bouncy, upbeat throughline reminiscent of “Mr. Blue Sky.” This is “Charlie’s Garden,” a track that splices bright verses with a nearly biblical, sermon-esque chorus and phone calls voiced by Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery’s co-star on Stranger Things, of all things.
“Charlie’s Garden” feels like a showcase of ignorant bliss in the face of trouble, with the speaker trapped in a cycle of deferral and empty promises: “That work just won’t do itself / […] / I’ll just wait another day / One more day / In Charlie’s garden.”
This is an undeniably fun track even before the bright trumpets join the fray, but the phone calls especially — in which Djo is repeatedly set aside in what seems like a professional setting — seem to imply a darker side of the story, which the speaker ignores and fully cuts off at the end of the song.
It is somewhat strange then, that “Gap Tooth Smile” is the next song. This is a straight-up love song, a punchy, rock n’ roll tune detailing someone falling for the simple features of a woman: “It’s her hair, her style / But I fell in love with her gap-tooth smile.” The song features groovy licks, psychedelic riffs and a whole lot of fun. It may be a little out of place with the rest of the songs, but it’s a great thrill.
“Golden Line” represents where this album begins to lose steam, in my opinion. The tunes are light, almost angelic, as Djo reflects on how love can lift even the darkest spirits: “The world can be so cruel / But I still trust in love.” On my first listen-through of this album, I began to feel fatigued by this point, but admittedly, I’ve come around a bit more on subsequent listens. It’s a solid entry either way: Djo’s voice is soulful and rich, especially at the track’s end, when it fades perfectly into the next song.
“Golden Line” flows right into “Back On You,” which begins with a choir hymn before a steady drum beat interrupts the vocals and brings another classic rock beat to the forefront. This is a fun song with a lot to like — groovy licks and layered vocals all around as Djo thanks the friends and family who’ve supported him this far in his journey — embodying angelic rock n’ roll vibes to build to a strong, triumphant finale.
But there’s still one more song, the denouement-esque “Crux.” This song is a blend of so many sounds we’ve heard in the album, with musical motifs reminiscent of “Charlie’s Garden” and “Back On You” specifically.
Piano chords and a deep guitar thrum hold “Crux” together as it builds into soft choruses about staying true to yourself and spreading love with your community: “Get back to your heart / But only if you give it back again,” sings Djo.
It’s a poignant ending to this emotional rollercoaster, satisfying so many dissonant chords from before, but it doesn’t reach the same highs nor does it feel as satisfying as the endings of Twenty Twenty or DECIDE.
Overall, while The Crux may not feel like Djo’s most cohesive album from front to back, many of its songs send his musicality to new heights. The beginning of this album, especially, is a powerhouse of poignant and thrilling tracks that have become instant staples of my playlist. This is a musician with a bright future, whose unique sound can stretch into any number of genres, emotions and styles.
I’m already anticipating his next album, but I’ll be happy with Stranger Things season five in the meantime.