The Road to Dijon’s Debut Album “Absolutely” and its Profound Intimacy
A Baltimore musician invites us to peer into his tight-knit group of collaborators, closely gathered, pouring their hearts out over intimate folk-R&B.
Dijon Duenas, normally going by just Dijon, is a 29-year-old musician from Baltimore, Maryland. He got his start into music as part of the experimental R&B duo Abhi//Dijon, but broke off to pursue a solo career in 2017. He released two singles that year (Stranger and Violence) but it wasn’t until the release of his smooth and emotional Skin in 2018, that Duenas started to gain popularity in the independent music scene. Quickly pinned into the Indie/R&B genre by critics, it was apparent to many that there was more to Dijon with elements of folk and country wrapped up in experimental and raw production. The emerging artist went on to release two EPs in 2019 and 2020, as he began exploring more cohesive multi-song projects.
His 2020 EP How Do You Feel About Getting Married? achieved critical acclaim and appreciation from fans online. But it seemed like everyone was excited for him to create a larger body of work except Dijon himself. “I have a problem with albums, I don’t like them” Dijon said in a 2020 interview on the Making Conversations podcast following the release of the EPs. Spending most of his formative years releasing numerous singles, Dijon seemed uninterested in the old world idea of putting time limits and labels on a body of work. He went on to discuss the arbitrary nature of saving songs for an album, instead choosing to just releasing them in real time while they’re still fresh. Dijon is an example of the ever rising movement in the music industry of distributing your music through an internet based ideology, pertaining more towards streams and individual plays rather than physical albums. But that reluctance seemed to be squashed at the surprise announcement that Dijon was releasing his first full length album in the fall of 2021.
Via Twitter, Dijon announced he would be releasing his first full length project, titled Absolutely. He would kick off the album cycle with a single track called Many Times, and would continue to release 3 more live performances of songs from the album prior to its release, building up hype for the coming record.
The first live session released on YouTube for the song Big Mikes showed Dijon along with accompanying musicians gathered around a dining room table, most notably guitarist and fellow recording artist Mk Gee, who was a primary collaborator throughout the whole album. Beer bottles, ash trays, and complex music equipment are sprawled throughout the playing space. The artist stated in an interview with the Fader that the goal with these videos were to recreate a space that resembled the same one in which him and these other musicians originally conceived these songs. The other live sessions posted to YouTube would be in the same space. Dijon later announced via social media that these live sessions were part of a bigger feature film for the album, also entitled Absolutely, that would premiere at the Brain Dead Studios theater in Los Angeles.
On November 5th, Dijon’s debut album “Absolutely” would hit streaming services, following the one and only screening of the film the night before. Immediately upon listening, we are met with the familiar opening track Big Mike’s, which acts as this highly climactic build up for the record. Its simplicity and poetically repetitive lyrics act as a digestible introduction that establishes a distinctive realist world. This album is a living, breathing thing, it feels as if it’s happening in real time as we press play. It’s like you’re getting to listen in on a group of close friends playing music together just for the sake of fun and personal expression.
Dijon stated on Twitter “the album doesn’t explore genres it boxes them[and] knocks them out”. The idea of genre is simply not in the discussion, this is an album where the cohesion comes from the sonic qualities and auditory aesthetic choices. We see a stylistic change here for Dijon, moving away from the indie/R&B genre and embracing more elements of folk and leaning into his organic production style; but that aspect is far from the point. There’s everything from slide guitars, ambient noise, and drum machines. Dijon himself also pushes through every vocal threshold, giving us nearly screamed bars and serenades almost as soft as a breeze. Part of this raw musical aesthetic is shown with lo-fi rough around the edges recording. Often keeping in room noises, mistakes, and having vocalists standing well away from the mic.
There is a complex array of topics that Dijon explores, from romantic conflicts, internal struggle, and nostalgic storytelling. The emotional range that we explore throughout the album is quite cathartic. The organic production style mixed with deeply personal and heartfelt lyrics feel like this room we’re sitting in is a group therapy session between Dijon and his friends.
The booming track Many Times surrounds this syncopated drum beat in which Dijon aggressively shouts sporadic frustrations with a current relationship, tired of the continuous confrontations with this person. The punchy delivery of the lyrics feels like someone that is just filled with unprocessed anger trying to just let it all out in whatever way it’s comes. It ends in a chaotic piano solo by Mk Gee, and almost seamlessly transitions into the soft and tender Annie.
Annie is a vocal highlight from Dijon, pushing the absolute highest level of softness he’s capable of. This song sounds like a tranquil exhale from the pent up anxiety of Many Times. It’s such a great juxtaposition to place these two songs next to each other, really showcasing the emotional range of the album. Annie is like the post-arguement feeling, when you just want to forget the confrontation and make amends with that person. It’s a serene apology to this person Dijon is involved with, saying “Annie, you shouldn’t have to run from me” almost in a regretful way saying he’s ashamed of the aggressive nature of the previous song.
An important facet of this album that sets it apart from Dijon’s other work is the inclusion of more collaborators. Most of his other work was almost fully self produced and devoid of any input from others. Dijon stating on social media “collaboration saved my life”. There is a very tight knit group of personnel associated with this album, including the previously mentioned guitarist Mk Gee, long time producer and friend Jack Karaszewksi (who also directed the Absolutely film), and a few others that are all featured in the videos. One of the only collaborators not included in the film, but had very large involvement was actor Noah LeGros, who’s vocals are heavily featured throughout the album but none more prominently than in track #5 Noah’s Highlight Reel. This song feels like a band of brothers arm and arm belting out their sorrows with heart wrenching group vocals, and colorful words describing a nostalgic view of Americana imagery.
The Dress is a left-field moment from the album, and it’s perfect. It acts as a bit of an interlude, but is clearly one of its highlights and has big potential for mainstream success as a single. It’s this romantic memory of Dijon’s charming nerves whilst getting ready to go on a date but the anxieties getting squashed when he finally sees them and their beauty floors him. It’s 80s inspired slow jam feel is a departure from the normal folk-R&B style of the rest of the album, and gives a feeling as if Dijon is having a day dream interrupting the regular linearity of the album. The Dress is like Dijon offering a bit of vivid storytelling to give context to the feelings he’s been laying on this album.
Absolutely is like a big group therapy session, chock full of cathartic storytelling and raw emotional expression. The feeling of a group of friends gathered in a sweaty studio playing their hearts out is the aesthetic through line of this album. Little clips of the crew laughing together, inside jokes, and conversations are sprinkled throughout each song. This feeling of togetherness, catharsis, and openness is abruptly stripped away with the song Rodeo Clown. This gorgeous track pits Dijon in a room alone with his deepest feelings, just him and a twangy guitar. This is clearly the most impactful, raw, and emotional performance we’ve heard from him to date. We see the protagonist of this story starting to feel fully at a loss at being blown off by his partner once again. Starting as this vulnerable and soft setting of the scene, Dijon’s delivery becomes soaked in the emotions as the song progresses and the cracks in his voice give us this beautifully messy display of an internal dialogue. Spiraling into an almost drunken croon as he shouts “you’re missing out, you’re missing out, on some good good loving”, over and over and eventually breaks down into full on cry on the mic. Dijon’s alone, totally broken down. After the wide range of emotions we see on this album, Rodeo Clown was the straw that broke the horses back and leaves us laying at rock bottom with Dijon.
This interpretation of Rodeo Clown is reflected in the Absolutely film (which was posted on YouTube in December and quickly removed on January first). We see Dijon alone in the dining room set devoid of any of the other guys singing the song in a drunken rampage throwing bottles at the wall and falling to the ground.
After the beautiful crying in the shower session, there is a bit of a reprise at the end of the song, and our beloved friends we’ve become so intimately connected with throughout this album return to Dijon and almost lift him back up. Group vocals are introduced again, and even include clapping and chanted lyrics shouting “I clap for you, I’m your biggest fan” and “put my face on and smile” almost as if Dijon’s trusted brothers are cheering him up and having a nice big group hug.
The final song, End of Record, is a vivid picture of the group returning to their original purpose, and just simply playing music together in a room and sharing emotions. As if Dijon’s been pulled out of the dark hole and is receiving that catharsis we’ve been receiving the whole album. Then we’re treated to the End Credits track directly after which is exactly what it is, it’s a nice fade out for the record consisting of just a man shouting “what are we freakin out about?”.
It’s rare we find an album that can transport us to a specific space, and a real one at that. This isn’t a prog-rock conceptual album with sci-fi worlds or some sort of deep storyline. It’s more like a documentary. It’s Dijon’s best attempt to put us into the room the music’s being made in as it’s happening. The choice to forgo full on music videos, and instead perform all the songs live gives us the sense that these versions we listen to on the streaming services are simply just one representation of this ever living, heavy breathing creature that is this album. There’s a full range of emotion from anger, to sorrow, to nostalgia, to romance, to full-on intoxicated depression. I still wonder what led him to finally tackle making a full length album, but I see it as this was an opportunity to document a specific place and time that couldn’t be expressed with just one song. Dijon’s debut record didn’t create a complex world to explore, he simply gave us a tunnel from ours to his.
