4 Years of “DECIDE”
Article★ Kenzie Gay ★ @kenzwrites ★ 3 Minutes
Joe Keery has been a household name for many since 2016 when Netflix’s original hit sci-fi series Stranger Things took the world by storm. The actor behind the charismatic, budding hero with great hair that is Steve Harrington, Keery has been on the up and up for his creative work on screen with projects like Stranger Things, Marmalade, and Fargo and for his creative work under Djo: the musical moniker he coined in 2019 just 2 years after parting ways with his former band, Post Animal.
Joe Keery via Instagram (left) and Joe Keery via Stranger ThingsIn 2024, his song End of Beginning, a loving farewell to the city of Chicago,went viral across the internet and it finally made both Joe Keery and Djo a name that turns heads. End of Beginning isn’t the only certified heater that Keery has released under the Djo project, though. In fact, it’s really just the tip of the iceberg.
On this day in 2022, Djo released DECIDE, his sophomore album and one of my favorite records of all time.
Those that are newer to the music of Djo may be blind to the point in time when Keery slapped a comical wig and sunglasses on himself as a way to separate the actor from the indie-pop-rock machine, but I am not. In late 2022, Keery was beginning to shrink this gap between actor and musician with the help of DECIDE and its release. In contrast to his debut album, Twenty Twenty, DECIDE stepped into a sound that leaned in heavier to alternative pop and electronic styles as opposed to the obvious rock n roll influences that were present before.
Djo via 2021/2022, photographers unknownThat looped in with DECIDE’s creative direction that focused on the weird, the whimsical, and the wacky (the three W’s, if you will), allowed Keery to wave in a brand new era for the project and for the creative himself. An independent artist, he knew the world was his oyster and he took full advantage of it by putting everything out there.
I mentioned End of Beginning above, mostly because it’s so popular that it’s probably become Keery’s version of Creep (those who get it, get it) by now. Even those who don’t realize it’s Keery’s voice behind the song can clearly recognize that signature line “when I’m back in Chicago I feel it” and it’s turned him into an internet phenomena. Like I said, though, End of Beginning is a surface-level aspect of the Djo project. It’s a song I’d recommend to ease someone into the music but it’s not one you’d find me blasting very often. That honor is reserved for other parts of the album. Gloom, Fool, and I Want Your Video, to be exact.
(left) DECIDE album art (right) Djo for DECIDE promo, photographer unknownGloom is a song that hit me like a freight train when I heard it for the first time. It’s one of those that just takes off running right at 0:00 and it never lets up until the next track is in full swing. I like to think that its the possessiveness of the bass guitar that seals the deal for me. I’ve always gravitated towards bass-heavy music and when its tied into something as darkly mysterious as the other components of Gloom, it’s a home fucking run. I could go on about the song for hours even though it’s not nearly long enough for my liking.
Fool ditches the morbid cool factor of Gloom for a romantic, down bad lover boy approach at pop that surprisingly works. It’s whiny in all the right ways and it leans into the style of 1990s MTV through both its lyricism and soundscape, a twist of playfullness bringing the intensity down from serious to digestible.
“I'm a jester and I'm yours. Call me your (look into my eyes and baby, whisper) fool. I will be your fool (I'll be your fool) I'll perform for you (perform for you) Just tell me what to do (do). I always felt so foolish anyway…”
Shoutout to our Associate Editor, Kylie, who swears by this song in particular (and Djo as a whole)!As if Fool couldn’t get anymore down-bad, I Want Your Video amps up the level of yearning by at least 100%. Again with that sassy, frivolous attitude, the song’s tone juxtaposes its lyrics that center around a deep love, appreciation, and gratitude that probably won’t be reciprocated to the same extent. Keery wears his heart on his sleeve whether he’s singing odes to Chicago or “I'm your moon. You're my star. We can't be. Here we are (Never gonna happen, never gonna happen). Need every bit of you. Babe, you know I want your video…”
Djo’s music didn’t just stop with DECIDE. If anything, Keery only revs up the project and his inherently musical side with each passing moment. In the Spring of 2025, he released his 3rd studio album titled The Crux (a masterpiece that stands toe to toe with DECIDE) and just a few months later, Post Animal released an album under the name of Iron in which he is credited as a major writer and instrumentalist.
As of publishing, Keery has no future live dates or confirmed releases for the Djo project, though you can catch him on Broadway this Fall/Winter as Trip Wyeth in Other Desert Cities alongside Lily Rabe, Allison Janney, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and several others.
