by Allison Moua

If you’ve ever wondered what it sounds like when an R&B artist steps into a church pew and still keeps one foot in his usual sound, Daniel Caesar’s new album Son of Spergy answers that question exactly. After a long wait, Daniel Caesar is back again with his fourth studio album and the follow up to his 2023 album, Never Enough. Caesar released this album through Republic Records on Oct. 24th. This album can be found on almost every streaming and music platform.

The album is named for Caesar’s father, Norwill Simmonds. Spergy was a nickname given to Simmonds due to his time as a gospel singer and pastor. When Caesar used it in his title, it was meant to symbolize his relationship with his father and his emotional and spiritual connection with his family. 

In Son of Spergy, Caesar blends gospel elements and lyrics with his usual soft-soul style. Lots of his tracks use church-like chords and layered vocals than his usual R&B songs. This album focuses on his faith and relationship with his family, as well as forgiveness and identity. Some lyrics in his track sound so soft and often sound like a quiet conversation with himself or God. While the sound is warm and emotional, it also breaks away from the style most people expect from him.

From my perspective, this new album took a lot of gospel inspiration, which made it feel very different from his past music. At first, it threw me off because I wasn’t expecting this type of shift in style from him. Some songs felt slower and more repetitive than what I’m used to. But overall I thought his album was okay, just not something I’d choose over his older music. Although it’s a meaningful album, it’s just not my preference.

To get some other opinions and viewpoints, I interviewed some of my fellow students to hear their reactions. Sean said, “In my opinion this is his most mature album. It’s very emotional and meaningful. If you were to tell me he’d made a ‘gospel’ album, I feel like this is exactly what I’d expect.”

Martin added, “It’s great, I don’t get why so many people treat this album differently than his others. Honestly if no one were to tell me that this album was gospel inspired I don’t think I would’ve seen anything differently from his other albums.”

Riki said, “I don’t know, this album just doesn’t hit like the others do. Honestly, it’s not even that it’s Christian…but it’s just different. I don’t know how to explain it, maybe I just favor his other songs. I don’t really think I’d listen to it.”

I don’t think numbers could rate this album, solely because I’m still very indecisive about it. I would recommend this to people who like gospel, R&B, and soft soul music. I think people who are more into fast paced music and hard beats wouldn’t like this album or any other album from Daniel. Overall, Son of Spergy, is an experimental and personal project that truly shows Caesar’s growth as an artist and person.