“Baby!” is the second studio album from singer songwriter Dijon Duenes, known professionally as Dijon. The album follows his debut album, “Absolutely,” released in 2021 to positive critical reception. The album would later amass a cult following online and cement Dijon as a formidable figure in R&B whose folk and soul influences took hold to an incredibly unique and new sound.
In the subsequent years after “Absolutely’s” release, Dijon took time off to marry and have a child with his wife, which the album’s themes and title reflect. Although he wasn’t actively creating his own music, Dijon was ever lurking in the corners of the R&B music scene, helping produce fellow musician Mike Gordon’s (Mk.Gee) breakout album “Two Star and the Dream Police,” and collaborating with artists such as Matt Champion, Bon Iver and most notably, Justin Bieber on “Swag,” on which Dijon was intimately involved.
While shifting its sound drastically, “Baby!” never loses the spirit and energy of Dijon’s previous efforts. As much as the album is a drastic evolution in Dijon’s sound, it’s even more so an evolution of self, a truly beautiful and honest one. It’s ultimately and deeply an album of love, coming with all of the faults it brings, the forgiveness and the unparalleled sense of passion that only Dijon could capture. “Baby” is a chaotic, intimate and experimental work that pushes Dijon’s limits both artistically and emotionally as he explores newfound fatherhood, marriage and family, capturing beauty in a symphony of glitches and sparks.
The album begins with its pounding title track “Baby!” a tender, glitchy, guitar-led soliloquy written for his newborn son. It’s a beautiful piece that effectively catches us up on the four-year gap since Dijon’s last album and marks a change from the desperation and heartbreak of “Absolutely” to a more reflective and sensual tone. Following “Baby!” is the aptly named “Another Baby!” an abrupt, prince-espue, synth-heavy track. After “Another Baby!” comes “Higher!” and “(Freak It),” two of the albums most effectively produced songs. Each revel in their own themes of devotion and intimacy flowing on the waves of love and hope that seems to pour from every crevice of this album. Closing out the first half of the album are “Yamaha” and “FIRE!,” Yamaha is the album’s centerpiece, a bold affirmation and an incredibly catchy, 80’s synth pop-infused R&B pile drive. “FIRE!” is among “Baby’s” most experimental, jagged and coarse. It has a brazen attitude and its deeply affectionate, passionate lyricism accelerates right into the album’s interlude, “(Referee).” “(Referee)” both literally and narratively blows the whistle, slowing down the album into a soft trio of tracks more tuned to reflection.
The first of the three, “Rewind,” is a heavy fist that casts into the symptoms of dying love. It’s one of the albums most exposed and most intense, featuring a powerful crescendo that rocks you deeply. The sophomore of the slow section, “my man,” is a much more mysterious number. It follows a tortured relationship between two men as they collapse into one another’s devotion over a pounding drum rhythm and stark synth textures. The final of the three, “Loyal and Marie,” is a gentle and stripped back track of love trapped in stalemate. The album caresses slowly and into the closing statements of “Baby.” “Automatic,” is a riveting synth power ballad, drowning in hooks and flaming sensuality the track swirls into chunky synth lines and its electrifying chorus. “Automatic” works to step toward the reaffirmation of lost love, a process of forgiveness. The production sits much closer to Hip-Hop, and even features a snippet of a Wu-Tang freestyle.
Closing out the album is “Kinda Love,” the track works to bring the album’s themes of marriage and family full circle. It’s a tender reaffirmation of love, and a song of forgiveness. The track features some of Dijon’s most powerful vocals since “Rodeo Clown” and fades out into a final goodnight under a new era.
While shifting its sound drastically, “Baby!” never loses the spirit and energy of Dijon’s previous efforts, as much as the album is a drastic evolution in Dijon’s sound. It’s even more so an evolution of self, a truly beautiful and honest one. It’s ultimately and deeply an album of love, coming with all of the faults it brings, the forgiveness, and the unparalleled sense of passion that only Dijon could capture.
