Words by Riyah Naik
DJO’s latest album The Crux affirms its status as a modern indie-rock classic. For as long as everyone has known him as Steve in “Stranger Things”, Joe Keery has been behind the scenes creating some of the best of what psychedelic music has to offer recently. After the huge year he has had, amidst his rise out of being a small indie artist, to becoming one with over 30 million monthly listeners on Spotify thanks to his hit song ‘End of Beginning’, Keery’s album seems to be perfectly timed to continue his momentum.
Although he has kept up a more secretive persona for the past few years, Keery told NME he planned
“to shed this on-stage persona and embrace the unknown.” One thing Keery is known for is his consistency in creating songs with interesting melodies focusing on relevant topics. He opens the album with ‘Lonesome Is A State of Mind’, which effectively sets the tone for the album and shows him staying to true to his method of storytelling with somber lyrics but with uplifting, even hopeful, melodies. He also does this with the sixth track on his album, ‘Egg’, which Genius describes as being on
“Themes of self-perception and wanting to escape one’s own identity”. Despite this song being lyrically gloomy, it is one that sonically embodies a sense of boundless possibility.
Influences of The Strokes appear to be most prevalent in this album, with catchy hooks and compelling cadences specifically through songs such as ‘Delete Ya’ and ‘Egg’, although Keery is able to bring his own dynamic twist to it. Themes and concepts that revolve around this album include Keery’s introspection on social media and the internet, as seen on ‘Basic Being Basic’ which revolves around the pressure to conform to social norms, and other tracks such as ‘Back On You’ which serves as an encouraging ode to some of his closest relationships, with heartfelt lyrics: “I got your back any day, my friend, my man”.
Overall, Keery has crafted a thematically cohesive album, marking an improvement from previous albums where standalone tracks leave an impression as opposed to the entire album. Despite not being released as singles in advance of the album, ‘Lonesome Is A State of Mind’, ‘Egg’ and ‘Charlie’s Garden’ are the tracks which appear to capture the essence of the album best. They sound full of promise, with a blend of interesting instrumentals. This mix of hopeful, melodic songs, and more synth, pop-based anthems such as ‘Basic Being Basic’ gives the album a well-rounded feel.
Compared to his previous work, there appears to be clear growth in Keery’s musical abilities. Showing off his multi-instrumentalist skills, he and his producer Taylor Vandegrift were able to use this album to show clear growth in sound that allows DJO to evolve as an indie rock artist. This is his undoubtedly best, and most honest, body of work to date. Overall, the album gives the listener a sense of optimism for the future, and at least one song to relate to with his versatile musical and emotional depth. The Crux is safely a successful follow up to his last album Decide in every sense and would certainly appeal to previous fans of his work, bringing a refreshing collection of songs.
