Baby!: An Album Review
- Amani Sellars
- Sep 30
- 2 min read
The release of Dijon's second studio album, Baby!, occurred on August 15, 2025, following his debut album Absolutely in 2021. While his debut album leaned towards a more intimate R&B sound, this latest album progresses into an experimental realm, with distortion, sudden changes, and tension. This album features a disconcerting use of sound that conveys the turbulence of love, fatherhood, and new beginnings.
This project was written during Dijon’s introduction to parenthood, and his transition manifests in the album's tone. The lyrics switch between feelings of devotion and anxiety as Dijon navigates his uncertainty. Instead of giving these feelings a lone moment, the songs place them on top of one another, fluidly moving from sweet to slightly unsettling moments in time. In this way, Baby! feels both raw and sincere.
The most interesting songs illustrate contrasting qualities. "Another Baby!" is a passionate declaration of love laid over a chaotic background. "Yamaha" is somewhere in between experimental and catchy, with a glitch-heavy production full of brief moments of melody. "Automatic" is close to a traditional single with a more conventional sound, and "Kindalove" ends the album with a minimal, dreamy quality that creates a release after the preceding tension.
Baby! has been received positively by critics, who highlight its ability to reject perfection and its use of fragmentation as an expressive device. At the same time, the density and volatility of the record make it a challenging listen, and may not be for audiences looking for cleaner production or a more traditional structure. Ultimately, however, what makes Baby! so exciting is that Dijon follows the path of discovery and experimentation not often seen in contemporary R&B and soul, producing one of the year's most unique and uncompromising releases.
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