When “End of Beginning” blew up on TikTok, there were three things running through my mind:
- Getting tickets to the next Djo tour was going to be impossible
- There were going to be so many new Steve Harrington edits to that song
- Djo was going to stop making weird music
I was partially right and partially wrong. My first thought was proven, as I’m writing this review ticketless and still in distress after the war back in January. My second thought was also proven, and I’m certainly not complaining. I recently saw a Dustin and Steve edit to “Back On You,” and I think it changed the trajectory of my life for the best.
In regards to the “weird music” I reference in my third thought, I don’t mean weird in a bad way, but rather a unique, abstract way. If you know anything about Djo’s music, you know that it’s been made with “wiggly dream sounds” since 2019, filled with glitchy tones, audible textures, and an old Casio Keyboard. His music is funky, groovy, like a retrofuturist love letter to the blinding neon colors of the 80s and a goopy lava lamp.
So when “End of Beginning” blew up, one of his more “tame” songs, I was certain we were going to lose the originality of his music, with the success of the song making Djo gear towards a more gentrified-pop sound to appease a broader audience with the release of his new album, The Crux. And while there’s nothing quite like “Runner” or “Uglyfisherman” on the record, every song is still uniquely Djo, and most songs still feature at least one sound that scratches the back of my mind in the best possible way.
“Basic Being Basic” was the first single to drop off the album and I find myself constantly mumbling the extremely catchy bridge and calling everything cheugy. “Potion,” another single released before the full album, shows off Djo’s vocal versatility and gives me a new way to say “I love you.” Like when my mom tells me to drive safely, or when my friends tell me to text them when I get home that night, or when my baby cousin shares her orange slices with me, and now, “leaving the light on.”
“Egg” is a relatively soft song until about halfway through when it feels like a wire breaks and the lyrics crescendo into an existential identity crisis. In the bridge, Djo is withdrawn, disconnected from authenticity and the outside world, struggling with desire and identity, questioning morality like if power and kindness are mutually exclusive.
After “Fly” and “Charlie’s Garden,” two more softer songs, comes “Gap Tooth Smile.” And while I have no proof of this, I’m absolutely certain that “Gap Tooth Smile” was written about my sister and best friend–Baylee. She’s had a gapped tooth smile since she grew teeth and it’s become one of the things I love most about her. To quote Djo, “Big heart, all smile.”
My favorite track on the album–and one of my favorite all-time Djo songs–has to be “Back On You.” Djo brought in the Brooklyn Youth Choir and they added a euphoric element to the song that is so rarely seen in music lately. In addition to the choir, Djo had his sisters Emma, Caroline, and Kate feature on the song, incorporating an entire verse about them and their sibling relationship. And just like Djo, my own siblings are my lifeline and “when life’s plan isn’t shining through, they help me see it through, and I’m leaning back on them.” It’s an upbeat track and it makes me so filled with emotion that I want to grab my best friends and run around the room with them–that’s how you know it’s a damn good song.
The Crux officially came out four weeks ago, although I’ve been listening to it for a bit longer than that. Djo himself has said the album is meant to be listened to more than once–which I accomplished within the first week of obtaining the early-listening link, effectively locking me out before the album was even out. And everytime I listen to the album, I find something else I love about it, whether that’s a fun instrumental, an agonizingly painful lyric, or a wicked bridge that gets stuck in my head for the whole day.
I still can’t decide if The Crux tops Decide–”On and On” is quite literally branded into my ethicality at this point–but the album is decidedly one of the best releases of 2025 so far, and I wouldn’t be upset if another song blew up on TikTok soon.
To catch The Crux (and more) live, check out Djo’s current tour dates here.
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