Words by Paige Daniel
You might not recognize Joe Keery in his new album, The Crux, as it may be the closest we’ve gotten to seeing who he really is. Not “the guy from Stranger Things,” not the equal parts groovy and goofy persona that performs in sunglasses and a shaggy wig. No longer, even, one of several instrumentalists in the Chicago-born psychedelic rock band Post Animal (for those who have been around a while) — though they will be opening for Djo’s coming tour. No, it seems with this third release, we are the closest we’ve gotten to meeting just Joe. Djo? Well, you can’t give an audience everything.
The Crux seems to shed multiple masks for Keery. With its initial single, “Basic Being Basic” released back in January, the singer pledges to authenticity. Whether a call-out on society or a self-critique, its message is clear: honoring the individual is in. Are we truly all so terrified by outside opinion that we would act as someone we are not? Someone less interesting, but more digestible, say?
How basic, Djo ironically puts into perspective. And he abides by this honesty throughout the album. Despite establishing that this is a concept record debuting “a hotel housing guests who are all, in one way or another, at crossroads in their life,” The Crux might be the most vulnerable we’ve ever seen Djo. In songs like “Potion,” with its baring lyrics — “I’ll try for all my life to find someone who leaves on the light for me” — Keery doesn’t hold back. And while love and heartbreak are certainly present in the album (with songs like “Delete Ya” and “Fly” — a breakup album has never been so groovy), the record largely seems to center around friendship, family, and self-growth. Its songs can’t help but feel like odes to the different parts of Keery’s life he is thankful for. In “Back on You,” Keery praises the ability he’s always been granted to fall back on sisters he’s “known for a lifetime.” While “Charlie’s Garden,” a nostalgically upbeat tune reminiscent of Electric Light Orchestra’s Mr. Blue Sky, “ pays homage to co-star Charlie Heaton — even featuring his voice on a faux voicemail within the track.
A crux is a vital or pivotal point that seeks resolution. Sandwiched between two careers (acting and music), two personas (character and self), and entering a new decade of his life, Keery seems to be at a strong one. When there’s so many parts of us and wherever you thought you’d end up is no longer an option, where do you go? Who helps you make those choices and what influences do we allow?
If “lonesome is a state of mind,” as Djo offers in track one, then who do we let on this island with us, as he concludes in the final track? We’re capable of navigating the answer, but only if we aren’t lying to ourselves. Putting down the costumes and gimmicks, performing as himself for the first time in three albums, it seems Keery is ready to share as much as he is willing for the moment. A trust is being built, a past self is being shed. Can audiences follow his lead into authenticity?
Loudspeaker Collective 