Dijon - Absolutely Review

Iron and Ocean?

Most people have a moment or a person like this. That type of moment in life that jumps up like a sudden wall where the other side holds the world as it used to be, and you stand on the side of the world as it currently is. The wall stands strong against all attempts to bring it down or break through it, and you’re left with nothing to do but rebuild. Rebuild yourself and the world around you and hope for the best.

Dijon, in his album ‘Absolutely’ (2021), goes through just one of those moments with stunningly honest lofi Indie-Folk/alt-R&B mash-up, coming across like a man at times to coming to terms with his loss and at others raging against it. Much of the album sounds as if it was recorded in a room with a bunch of friends either cheering you on or singing along in your sorrow, with a few moments where the production reaches a level of clarity and crispness that makes even the rougher edges shine.

I like how you look when you got questions (questions)
I like how you look when you get stressed
You're all tensed up (ooh)
I like when you're mad
I like when you get mood swings
Two eyes in your head
Two eyes blue, look like mood rings
I like how you look when you undress

‘Big Mikes’ starts the album off with a somber wall of sound that hums into existence like a droning dream scape punctuated by a thudding drum and a pleading vocal reaching out, begging for ‘Johanna’ to take them. As he does through many of the songs in this album, his requests come from a man who sounds like he knows everything is over. Other times he’s in full combat mode, as in the track ‘Many Times,’ barking out a list of attempts to get her attention while bemoaning the ‘many times you hurt me so much.’  Though he knows the choice is set in stone, ‘You can change your mind now, but you can’t change your decision’ he really doesn’t want to talk about it now. He’s in full struggle mode, but it isn’t until the later track, ‘Rodeo Clown’ where we really hear the results of that struggle, as his voice cracks, strains and at a moment, in heavy breathing or tears, seems to fall apart completely. Here we have my favorite moment of storytelling as he takes the role of a Rodeo Clown forced to paint on a smile while watching everyone cheer and clap (he claps too!) for his love interest in their shiny silver spurs and dirty face, leaving them behind as the clown to the true star of the rodeo.

Though, the album is not all sadness and begging as the standout track ‘The Dress’ illustrates. It stands tall as a full-on love jam complete with a twinkling of 90’s adult contemporary piano and lovesick vocals where the cleanness of the track hits like a jolt in the middle of the album like a moment of clarity during a tear-soaked drinking binge. The final track ‘Credits!’ stands out as well but for a completely different reason. It punctuates the end of the album like a hidden track that somehow snuck into the main list with a sudden stop that almost seems to say, ‘sorry about that!’ Though, I initially struggled with this track, I do think it works with the album, coming on the tail after the ‘true’ ending of the album (literally titled ‘End of Record’) as if it’s a preview of the life after the regret. It’s more boisterous, celebratory, and less coherent than anything that precedes it but maybe it indicates a new beginning. Maybe Dijon is finding luck building that life on the new side of the wall.

At the rodeo, I
Put my face on and smile
And I get scared watchin' you
And the crowd gets wild, run to you
I run to you, I run to you, I run to you
I love you, I love you, I-

By the end of everything I can’t overstate how beautifully blended all the elements of this record are, mixing like an Iron and Wine/Frank Ocean mash-up journey of a life trying to rebuild itself. A lot of different vibes and styles coming together to make something new.

IT’S A GROOVE!