Djo’s second album ‘DECIDE’ does not disappoint
Joe Keery, the popular Stranger Things actor and eloquent musician, provides a dreamy record after releasing his debut three years ago.
Photo: Dana Trippe
This second album proves that Joe Keery is not an actor-turned-musician, but a talented force to be reckoned with, as Decide showcases his musical prowess.
The album begins with Runner which is a track that builds up more and more as it goes on to form an amazing opening track that gets us excited to listen out for what the album has to hold. The main theme of the album is laid out in the opening line “Love and hate decide”. As well as the synths that play throughout the song, establishing the new direction Djo has taken with this project.
Merging beautifully into the second track — and the second single of the album — Gloom. This freeing track kickstarts the theme of celebrity life that continues later in the record, with lyrics such as “These people stress me out, I’m ready to go”. The spoken vocal style featured within the song adds an enchanting flare.
The third track Half Life has a dreamy feel and is accompanied by lyrics about Joe Keery’s meteoric rise to fame: “I fight the urge to search my name”. Keery’s recent departure from his personal Instagram, and these lyrics solidify his criticism of celebrity and social media culture.
Fool, a much shorter track, provides a different direction vocal-wise. Chill but groovy drum beats are a highlight of this track, which breaks up the more electronic sounds of other songs on the album.
Further contributing to the theme of social media on the record comes the fifth track, On and On. The chorus features beautifully layered vocals across lyrics, “On and on and on and on / Scrolling on and on and on”. The bridge into verse three is led by a crescendo of drums, which adds an interesting intensity to the song before it relaxes back into the chorus.
Djo heads in a mellow direction with End of Beginning; a sound that is reminiscent of early music by Wallows, whose frontman Dylan Minnette also found fame via a Netflix TV show (13 Reasons Why). This track feels straight out of a coming-of-age film.
Picking the pace back up with I Want Your Video: a groovy tune with dancey drums and jazz-y keyboard. This track is crowd ready and, hopefully, he’ll play a show over in the UK soon.
Eighth track, Climax, brings dreamy autotuned vocals to accompany the dream state lyrics before pausing for a moment and changing tone to highlight the thought-provoking lyrics. The drums at the end of the song lead perfectly into the next track.
Change was the first single taken from the album and kick-started the new, lo-fi sound Joe has adopted for his second go at Djo. This track is the perfect summer tune and is bound to get a whole crowd moving with its anthemic lyrics, dancey synths and drums.
The tenth track is an interlude called Is That All It Takes, which acts as a platform for the next song to pull focus as it transitions perfectly.
Go For It starts with a dramatic bass sound that grabs the listener in before slowing to showcase Djo’s vocals. This track includes many intricate details and is a personal favourite. The drums are once again a highlight on this track as they provide the constantly changing pace that brings the track together with ease.
The third single and penultimate track is Figure You Out, and it does not disappoint. Djo utilises many different vocal tones throughout which allow the song to feel like a conversation between Keery and whoever he is trying to “figure out”.
Slither is the final track of DECIDE and the chanting lyrics allow the record to feel complete. The closing lyric “We all wanna be someone at the end of the day” encapsulates the theme of fame and people’s search for meaning that runs throughout the album.
DECIDE is out now via AWAL Recordings.
