The crux of Djo’s third album “The Crux” is a forgettable combination of peaceful mediocrity. That doesn’t mean it was bad though.

The album came out on April 4th, 2025 and is a sequel from an album he made in 2022 called “Decide.” “The Crux” has fewer energetic instrumentals, but the theme of the lyrics largely stays the same.

First, I just want to get this out of the way because it’s my favorite thing about the album. I absolutely love how each song sounds different. That made the listening experience so much more tolerable. I feel like a lot of people make multiple songs, but the songs just sound too similar to the point of being annoying. Thankfully, for this album, that was not the case. But I find it remarkable how the songs can be so different, but also blend in with one another.

“Lonesome Is A State Of Mind” was personally my favorite. That’s probably because it was the first song in the album. I had a fully open mind and wasn’t weary of the album’s monotony just yet. The song also got better as it went on, like it actually changed. That made it different compared to the other songs on the album, where I feel like it just stayed the same throughout.

My least favorite song was the second song, “Basic Being Basic.” I don’t want to sound too rude but I honestly hate the lyrics. I don’t even really know what he’s trying to say. Other songs have some sort of general theme, but I couldn’t really get a message from this song. It just sounded like a bunch of words put together without any actual substance. The topics jump around a lot, but they’re generally kind of rude, in the song he is calling someone basic, and that’s the only consistent thing about the lyrics. The way the lyrics are mixed with the song just makes it even more annoying, because if you’re trying to say bad things, at least do it well. The only redeeming quality is the name because I feel like it describes this song very well. It’s basic. I genuinely don’t know how this is the most popular song in the album. Do people think this is the best song or did it just gain popularity because this song was released before the actual album?

That’s not to say that basic means bad in this case. I don’t actually have any problems with the album. I can’t say it is objectively bad, just not my taste. It’s not one of those songs I’ll be pacing around in my room for hours to.
Going back to the positives, I liked “Delete Ya,” which is the fifth song in the album, since it kind of sounds like it was inspired by 80s music, as well as “Charlie’s Garden,” the eighth song, since I like how it sounds cheery. These songs are catchier and in general, stuck out to me a bit more than the other songs on the album. However, I can’t give more thorough reasons as to why. That’s one of the problems I had with the album. I couldn’t really connect with it.

I think in the future, I’ll listen to songs from this album if I ever need background noise, especially since the songs fade into each other, and I love albums that do that. All the songs in the album are relatively peaceful. Like I said, I love the aesthetic, and the entire album itself is really good. The thing is, there are tons of other songs I’d simply rather listen to. Other songs I listen to are catchier, or I can relate to the lyrics more. As somebody who always has a song stuck in their head, I simply don’t think I’ll ever have the time to listen to any songs from this album. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, it just means there are better songs.

I feel like the lyrics, for the most part, are from the heart, and they all share the theme of being an insight on life. They’re reflective, with a sort of nostalgic sadness sometimes. But at the same time, they just feel safe. There’s nothing overly remarkable about them. It’s not the worst, but there are other things I like to listen to. There is so much different music out there, so unfortunately, “The Crux” will blend in with all the other music that exists, at least if you’re an average listener like me. I was already starting to forget some of the songs on the album as I was writing about it. And as I’m editing it, I realize I have forgotten anything about the rest of the songs on this album, even though I’ve listened to it quite a few times for the purposes of reviewing it. I had to listen to the album several times as I was writing this because I just didn’t have any thoughts on it at all.
Overall, it’s a very good album. But from the perspective of someone who doesn’t know much else about Djo, it’s just another indie album. Nothing sticks out as particularly good, but nothing sticks out as particularly bad either. If I were to rate it, it’d probably get a 7.5/10. That’s good, but compared to all the other songs I listen to that I feel are 10/10, it just won’t stand out as much.