You know that thing that celebrities do where they start to become recognizable and they then try to capitalize on that fame in any way they can? Ads, food, makeup, and anything else they can put their brand on is fair game. Something that is one of the riskier bets that many celebs take on is making the leap from the screen to your ears as a musical performer. Happens all the time. At best you end up with someone in the ranks of Eddy Murphy and Ryan Gosling, although they may not be the most unique acts they are able to hold their own and bring a distinct stage presence to their performances. Sadly though, most of the time you end up with work by someone far too confident to understand that music isn't really for them.
Well, this isn't that.
Joe Keery, best known as playing the asshole-bully-turned-hero Steve Harrington in Netflix's blockbuster sensation Stranger Things, has just released a new album as his alter-ego, Djo. Titled DECIDE, this is the second full studio album Keery has released under the moniker and dear god it's good.
For years since college Joe had been performing as a founding member of the psychedelic rock band Post Animal. After being cast in his now most famous role, he stopped touring with them in an attempt to keep his musical and acting careers separate but after the overwhelming success of the Netflix horror series and confirmation that his character would become a series regular he parted ways with them. “That whole situation is kind of difficult, as you want to separate the band from the TV show, as that is just bad for the band,” Keery explained in a 2019 interview with NME, “And it can help initially with exposure, but those guys don’t have any connection to the show and they don’t want to be labeled as, like, Stranger Things band, and I think we sort of realized that right out the gate, so, I think separating the band from that, is good in the long run…"
Enter Djo, his solo project. Understanding that there is no way he could ever be divorced from his Stranger Things fame, Keery let his facial hair grow out, donned a shaggy wig and shades, and created a persona unlike anyone would suspect. He's funky, high-concept, but at the same time incredibly blunt and to the point with his music. With a diverse collection of influences like CharliXCX, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Parcels, Todd Terje, Justice, and Twin Peaks, Keery has crafted a sound that is familiar and unexpected, catchy and experimental all at once. DECIDE, this new album, shows that his idea of what he wants to create has further solidified and shows that he has a very clear vision.
The opening track, Runner (Linked at the top of the post), made me weep the first time I heard it. I've never felt that I've identified with a song so completely. Keery then just goes track to track, his lyrics clear and unambiguous, telling stories of personal growth, narcissism, addiction to social media, falling in love, falling out of love, and clinging desperately to something you fear you have forever lost, all with an overarching theme of self-realization.
Being candid for a moment, I've struggled with my own issues of competency, honesty, and owning up to my own personal responsibilities. This album comes at a time when the stars aligned and I was in the right position for Keery's Lyrics to hit me like a ton of empathy-filled bricks directly in all of my feels. Each track is written as if it is happening right at the moment of realization that a change needs to happen in your life and now you have to choose, to DECIDE, to be better. It's all the emotions I've felt as of late distilled into 13 songs and 36 minutes and a reminder, no... an ultimatum that change is more than just words and that for it to last you have to do more than just want it. Do yourself a favor: press play and don't look back.
"We all wanna' be someone at the end of the day..."
Listen to Djo - DECIDE where ever you stream your music
