Actors who also make music on the side are often a dubious proposition, begging you to question just how serious, let alone good, they actually are at their second creative outlet. In the case of
Joe Keery
, the answer is pretty good! Best known as the mullet-styled Steve Harrington on the hit horror series Stranger Things,
Keery
also moonlights as a pop singer. Working under the stage name
Djo
(pronounced "Joe"), he crafts a heady blend of retro-inspired prog- and synth-based pop. It's an evocative style he first introduced on 2019's
Twenty Twenty
and which he further expands on 2022's
Decide
. Cuts like the opening "Runner," "On and On," and "Change" showcase his knack for infectious, often falsetto-sung melodies that bring to mind a mix of influences, including the contemporary psych-pop of bands like
MGMT
and
Field Music
, with even a little bit of
Michael Jackson
's disco-R&B sparkling under the surface. There's a conceptual, somewhat character-driven approach to
's work as
, something that perhaps shouldn't be that surprising given his wry acting chops and knack for comedy. It's a theatrical quality, recalling the new wave paranoia of
David Byrne
Thomas Dolby
. It takes its most indelible form on "Gloom," a
Giorgio Moroder
-meets-
Devo
-style anthem in which
endures a dark night of the soul while out at a club. Crooning against a pulsing, laser-toned groove, he sings, "And so I walk out the door/Your insults don't affect me with my favorite coat on/I know my hair looked good in the bathroom at the bar/Turns out I left my wallet at the bathroom bar." Things only get worse and funnier from there. That much of
is filled with the same literate and wry humor, not to mention memorable pop hooks, speaks to just how creatively inspired
is as
. ~ Matt Collar