During past performances under his stage name Djo, Joe Keery wore a wig, sunglasses, and a white canvas jumpsuit to jokingly “conceal” his identity. However, on his most recent album, The Crux, he trades this alternate persona for a much more earnest representation of himself. 

Released on April 4th, 2025, Djo’s third album details his experience of being “twenty-nine and misaligned” while navigating a breakup, a cross-country move, and the conclusion of a decade-long TV series. This change-induced loss of purpose leads him to finding meaning in the simple things that matter most, a process documented in the forty-five minute long record.

While 2019’s Twenty Twenty and 2022’s DECIDE were mixed primarily in his bedroom, The Crux was recorded in the historic Electric Lady Studios. This shift in the recording environment inspired him to emulate some of his biggest musical influences like T. Rex, Nick Drake, Paul McCartney, and Fleetwood Mac in his stylistically diverse album.

While the album itself serves as a deeply personal look into his singular experience, its music videos, album artwork, and promotions don’t centre Djo in the slightest, instead featuring him blended in with large crowds of other people. On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Djo revealed that one of the album’s themes is “one of many,” recognizing the coexistence of his story and everyone else’s. The maximalist album cover includes a variety of characters and small details including a UFO, a mouse dressed as a doorman, and Djo hanging out of the window. Djo spoke to this cover, stating that the choice to feature himself signifies that his transformative experience is “just one part of [the] whole big story,” as he explained to Deezer.

The Crux opens with “Lonesome is A State of Mind,” a Strokes-esque reflection on time spent focusing on the future rather than living in the present. It acts as an introduction to Djo’s conscious decision to move past his old ways, as well as the mix of mellow acoustic and energetic electronic that’s incorporated throughout the album.

The record’s first single, “Basic Being Basic,” provides a catchy yet critical take on the superficial nature of modern culture and the necessity to express yourself outside of what is conventional. With almost robotic vocals tracked to upbeat synths, Djo’s lyricism is harsher than usual, expressing a certain disdain for the hollowness that surrounds him. The second verse delves into his own values that contrast self-centred mainstream attitudes, followed by a stream of consciousness style bridge similar to The 1975’s “Love It If We Made It.”

“Egg” is reminiscent of the darker, electronic style of his sophomore album, shifting from the album’s otherwise warm feel towards a colder sound fitting for the internal battle that the song depicts. The track describes the experience of being trapped by the constraints of other peoples’ perceptions and judgements, and “letting fear dominate your decision making,” as he told Studio Brussel. This anxiety comes to a head in a powerful, emotion-filled bridge of realizations and epiphanies, a build-up that resembles an out of body experience.

Djo told Nylon that one of his main focuses on this album was to “use these songs to memorialize either a person, a relationship, or an event in [his] life” and “Charlie’s Garden” acts as a tribute to his summer in Atlanta spent living next to his Stranger Things co-stars Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton. This song was written on the couple’s piano while they were out for a walk with their dog, Penny, who also receives a shoutout. The track features two “voicemails” from Heaton, who is also referenced in “Delete Ya” in a line about Friday nights spent driving around their younger castmates. The influence of The Beatles on his music is evident throughout the record, but this song in specific is a mirror image of the bright, playful sound seen on Sgt. Pepper’s. 

The Crux is full of fun, indie rock songs that are sure to become summer staples, including “Gap Tooth Smile” and “Back On You.” The latter is a personal favourite, acting as an upbeat, guitar-centric love letter to his support systems. It opens with a reassuring choir section that precedes a verse dedicated to his four sisters who sang backing vocals on the track.

The album closes with its title track which reminds listeners of the importance of vulnerability and staying true to themselves. Though it features less production than the rest of the record, the simple, stripped back sound gives the song a genuine quality that feels personal. This track acts as a comforting conclusion that encapsulates the album’s central message of regaining purpose and meaning through authenticity.

Djo revealed to Exclaim! that one of his biggest goals in creating music is that “somebody can find a bit of themselves in it,” and he definitely succeeded in this through his authentic and relatable lyrics that portray a transitional period of his life. Djo brings a truthful, earnest perspective that’s told in a really unique style, making The Crux worth a listen (or weeks of repeated listening, if you’re me).