This time last year, Dijon Duenas had not finished work on ‘Baby’, the breakout album that has propelled him from IYKYK territory to Best Of 2025 lists, an SNL appearance and credits on Justin Bieber‘s ‘Swag’ and ‘Swag II’. Recorded in a fit of frustration after a period of writer’s block following the birth of his first child (a son named Baby), Dijon gathered his friends, including regular collaborator Mk.gee, in his Glendale garage and set to work on an album that was to be both ambitious and raw. At its best, ‘Baby’ captures the inflection point of a misspent youth and impending fatherhood in songs that feel like they are being ripped from the earth. Can the spontaneity that defines the album’s highest moments be captured and repeated night after night?
- READ MORE: Dijon – ‘Baby’ review: bold, restless comeback pushes the boundaries of production and pop
The answer, based on the first night of two shows in London, is a resounding yes. Flanked on stage by seven bandmates, including special guest Sam Amidon on fiddle and banjo, Dijon’s live show feels like both an elevation and deconstruction of the songs this sold-out audience welcome like old friends. ‘Another Baby!’ and ‘Higher!’ set the tone in the opening section with Dijon’s unabashed love for Prince shining through in the sticky and soulful jams written about his partner’s pregnancy.
Dressed casually in a white long-sleeved T-shirt, Dijon keeps things simple. “I was told recently I don’t talk enough about the songs,” he says in a rare between-song interlude. Perhaps he’s about to break the habit, but no, straight on with ‘Baby!’ Similarly, there is little in the way of stage production. Getting eight people on stage isn’t a cheap way to tour, and compromises were seemingly made elsewhere. The no frills approach suits Dijon’s songs, though, which grow progressively, and pleasingly, weirder as the set moves into its latter half.
With the aid of Jack Karaszewski triggering samples and adding percussion, ‘Fire!’ descends into something like a black metal song with serrated guitars and heavy clanging sounds adding to a new arrangement. Speaker-rattling sub bass, meanwhile, gives ‘(Referee)’ muscle. The song explodes in its mid-section, and a blindingly bright light beams out into the audience as Dijon’s heavily reverberated vocals make him sound like he’s standing in the centre circle of an empty stadium. Dijon could step on stage and lean on songs like nostalgic ‘80s wedding-core ‘Yamaha’, which gets the biggest audience reaction of the night, but you get the sense that simple fan service isn’t what drives him. The same impulse that led to ‘Baby’ also makes for a fascinating live experience.
Dijon played:
‘Big Mike’s’
‘Another Baby!’
‘Many Times’
‘Scratching’
‘Higher!’
‘Baby!’
‘Alley-oop’
‘Rock n Roll’
‘Coogie’
‘Annie’
‘The Dress’
‘(Referee)’
‘Rewind’
‘TV Blues’
‘Fire!’
‘Talk Down’
‘Yamaha’
‘Automatic’
‘Kindalove’
‘Rodeo Clown’