Decide (album)

The American actor and musician Joe Keery started releasing music under the alias Djo in 2019, when he left the band Post Animal after three projects between 2015 and 2018. His debut studio album, Twenty Twenty, was released on September 13, 2019, and supported by three singles and concerts in the United States. NME received it positively. In an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Keery stated that the decision of performing under the name Djo was made after he had the idea to not be "directly connected" to him. He also played wearing a wig, inspired by the entertainer Andy Kaufman. In an interview with NME, he said that he adopted the Djo stage name to separate his music career from Steve Harrington, the character he portrays in the Netflix series Stranger Things, but he then liked "the camaraderie that it creates". Keery and the producer Adam Thein started developing Decide in 2019, in parallel to a series of concerts in promotion of Twenty Twenty. They continued working on the album during the COVID-19 lockdowns through screen-shared Ableton sessions. In 2020, he told Rolling Stone that he was "recording for fun, downloading music". During the development of Decide, Keery had moments of "self-doubt", attached to his character in Stranger Things. == Composition ==

Overview Decide is a synth-pop, synthwave, and alt-pop album, with perceived elements of 1970s new wave, funk, and 1980s pop music. Lyrically, Decide centers on Keery's reflections on relationships, technology, and self-growth, and he described it as a "sort of aural history of [his] late 20s". while Keery also cited the duos Daft Punk and Justice, the singers Charli XCX and Julian Casablancas, and the band the Strokes. It also includes Auto-Tuned vocals and chiptune. Influenced by the bands Devo and Talking Heads, The futuristic third track "Half Life" focuses on the struggles Keery had gone through online. It contains a sentiment of nostalgia and dissociation, predominantly containing synthesizers on a funk rock and psychedelic rock base. Keery named the bands T. Rex and Parliament-Funkadelic as inspiration for the track. It drew comparisons to the works of Tame Impala, with Stereogum Chris Deville describing it as a "poppier" The Slow Rush (2020). According to NME Tom Disalvo, it encompases the psychedelia of Twenty Twenty and the pop-punk of his 2020 single "Keep Your Head Up". The only interlude on the album, titled "Is That All It Takes", precedes "Go for It", which contains synthesizers reminiscent to those from "Hell of a Life" by Kanye West, according to Glicksman. The track starts with a bass and a staccato melody and turns into a pop ballad, centering on a love that fades quickly. The twelfth track, "Figure You Out", describes a disconnect from reality through questions: "Is the memory really mine?/Is the story I told just fake?/How can you get to know yourself?". The album closes with "Slither", with lyrics showcasing hope. == Release and promotion ==

On June 22, 2022, Keery announced the release of Decide and subsequently released its lead single, "Change". "Figure You Out" was released as the third single from Decide on August 26, 2022. Keery debuted songs from Decide at several festivals and concerts before its release; these included Lollapalooza and the Austin City Limits Music Festival. through CD, vinyl LP, cassette, and digital formats. It was self-published under an exclusive license to AWAL. In 2024, "End of Beginning" became Keery's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart following its increased usage on the video-sharing app TikTok, debuting at number 51 on the chart. It was sent to Italian airplay on March 1, 2024, as the album's fifth single. It later reached number 11 in the US and the top five in the UK. Alongside the song's success, Decide began to appear on the national charts of various countries. It peaked at number 10 in the Netherlands, and within the top 40 in Hungary (32), Canada (35), and Germany (35). In the United States, the album reached number 56 on the Billboard 200, and appeared on the Independent Albums and Top Rock & Alternative Albums charts, at numbers 10 and 11, respectively. Additionally, it entered the UK Album Downloads Chart at the 93rd position. == Critical reception ==

On Metacritic, Decide received a weighted mean score of 77 out of 100 based on six critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception. The review aggregator site AnyDecentMusic? compiled 9 reviews and gave Decide an average of 7.7 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. The songwriting and themes of the album generally received praise; several critics described the lyricism as "honest". Lauren McDermott of Clash wrote that it has "an even wider range" than the sound, and that the combination of hooks, lyrics, and high-energy instrumental is unexpected. Dork Finlay Holden lauded the album's cohesion and themes, and said that it has "too many individual highlights to list". However, Moreland was more critical, believing that the songwriting is not "quite up for the challenge" and lacks its own personality, in reference to the several influences. The reviewers were positive about the production, with Holden admiring the "sonically bold and completely addictive" songs, and Hartmann mentioning the sonic and emotional twists. Hamilton-Peach agreed, describing it as "chameleonic" and also praising the artistic voice of Keery. Moreland opined that the highlights on the album are the longer songs, on which the production takes "unexpected directions". McCarthy described Decide as a "deeply thoughtful and yet infinitely danceable collection of songs". Several critics compared positively Decide to Twenty Twenty. Writing for Under the Radar, Mariel Fechik believed that Keery's talent "expand[s] outward", and said that the album is more confident and decisive than his previous effort. Holden said that Keery explored further sonically on the album, and McDermott stated that it is a "much bolder" than his debut. The former finalized the review by writing that "the record is thrillingly artistic while maintaining an alluring accessibility that makes it hard to stop listening". == Track listing ==

All tracks are written and produced by Joe Keery and Adam Thein, except where noted. == Personnel ==

The personnel is adapted from the album's liner notes. • Joe Keery – production, mixing • Adam Thein – production, mixing • Heba Kadry – mastering • Dana Trippe – photography, cover design • Kelly Ford – cover design • Nicole Blue – cover design • Belhum – layout == Charts ==