The Crux is the third studio album by the American actor and musician Joe Keery, under his alias Djo. It was released independently under AWAL on April 4, 2025, and served as the follow-up to his previous album, Decide (2022). Keery co-produced The Crux with his frequent collaborator Adam Thein at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. Three singles—"Basic Being Basic", "Delete Ya", and "Potion"—preceded the album. Upon its release, it was met with generally favorable reception from music critics. To promote The Crux, Keery is embarking on the Back on You World Tour between February and October 2025.
A reissue of the album, titled The Crux Deluxe, was released on September 12, 2025, and preceded by three singles. Containing 12 new songs, it served as an expansion to the lyrical content of the original album and was completed months after the initial release.
Background
Joe Keery saw breakthrough success in his musical career, under the alias Djo, with the sleeper hit "End of Beginning" (2024). One of the singles from his second studio album, Decide (2022), it was the sixth song with the most streams in 2024 and charted in 41 countries, including in the United States with a peak at number 11. It also received certifications in nearly 20 nations.[3] Keery started teasing his third album on social media at the beginning of 2025.[4]
Production and composition
Keery worked with his frequent collaborator Adam Thein for The Crux. They co-produced the album at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.[3] According to DIY, the lyrical themes center on "a hotel housing guests who are all [...] at crossroads in their life".[5]
Release
On January 24, 2025, Keery announced his third album, The Crux, and revealed its track listing and cover artwork.[6][7] He also released its lead single, "Basic Being Basic", and performed it on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon four days later.[8] The album was supported by a concert tour titled Back on You World Tour between February and June 2025, which passed through North America, Europe, and Australia.[9][10][11] The American band Post Animal, which Keery was part before his solo career, served as the opening act.[6][9] "Delete Ya" was released as the second single on February 27, 2025,[12] followed by "Potion" on April 2.[13]The Crux was released on April 4, 2025, via the distribution company AWAL.[3]
Commercial performance
The Crux debuted at number 50 on the US Billboard 200, including number 11 on the Independent Albums and number 10 on the Top Alternative & Rock Albums charts selling 8,000 pure album sales.[14] As of July 2025, the album has sold 79,000 equivalent album units in the US.[15]
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On the review aggregator site Metacritic, The Crux received a weighted mean score of 73 out of 100 based on 10 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[17] The music website Pitchfork gave the album a 5.9 out of 10, praising its "vibey prompts", while simultaneously criticizing the album for its "tendency to mistake mere observation for insight" and for being "frictionless" and "uncanny".[24]Rolling Stone awarded the album 3.5 stars, referring to it as "the best music of his career".[25]Paste's Mariel Fechik called The Crux "instrumentally lush and expansive," which offers a "vivid warmth to the album's sound."[27] Alfie Verity at Under the Radar described the album as "a well pruned garden of musical history centered around Djo’s charming storytelling and personality."[28] The site AnyDecentMusic? gave it a score of 7.4 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus from 11 reviews.[16]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Joe Keery; "Lonesome Is a State of Mind", "Delete Ya", and "Egg" written with Adam Thein.
The Crux Deluxe is the reissue of The Crux, released independently under AWAL on September 12, 2025.[43] It contains 12 new songs written, recorded, and produced by Keery and Thein at Electric Lady Studios while they worked on The Crux, and completed months after the album's release. The collection was preceded by the singles "Carry the Name", "It's Over", and "Awake".[44] From September 8 to September 10, 2025, Keery released three singles each day: "Carry the Name", "It's Over", and "Awake".[44] The three songs were included on The Crux Deluxe, which was surprise released on September 12.[44] A visualizer for the track "Mr. Mountebank" premiered at the same time.[44]
The Crux Deluxe was conceived as an alternate perspective of the album's titular Crux hotel.[45] On social media, Keery declared that it is "not so much a double album but an expansion of the world of [the initial album] that stands on its own as a unique body of work".[45] Several tracks, including "It's Over" and "Who You Are", see Keery melancholically accepting the end of a relationship.[2]
The sound of The Crux Deluxe incorporates several genres, including psychedelic rock, synth-pop, electropop, folk, and blues.[2]Stereogum's Chris DeVille compared the first track, "T. Rex Is Loud", to the glam rock music of the English musician Marc Bolan.[43] It is followed by the acoustic pop song "Love Can't Break The Spell" and the synth-rock "Mr. Mountebank", the last of which predominantly incorporates the use of Auto-Tune.[43]
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