2xLP

Son of Spergy is a self-referencing title. Norwill "Spergy" Simmonds is Daniel Caesar's father, a Seventh-day Adventist minister and gospel singer with whom Caesar has had a tumultuous relationship. Caesar's secular musical aspirations factored in his displacement from the family house when he was 17. The processing of his strict Christian upbringing, as well as the influence of the sacred music that shaped him, can be heard across his catalog. His second EP is titled Praise Break -- as in a break from praise -- and here, on his fourth album, faith, repentance, salvation, and spiritual liberation are brought to the fore. The themes often aren't so much mixed into the writing as they are haphazardly applied during Caesar's continued reckoning with adulthood. Take "Baby Blue," a softly flickering lullaby where Caesar is awed by a divine being who brings him light. A couple keywords notwithstanding, Caesar seems to be professing his love to a newborn child or lover. Just as the song dissipates, his father delivers a contrasting coda of praise with his delicate tenor vocals. "What if you believed in God, this world, in hell, and all the things that this could be?," Caesar asks in "Have a Baby (With Me)," where the title is repeatedly urged, devoid of romance, like he's trying to convince himself that a child is the solution for his partner's discontentment. Shaped by longtime collaborators Matthew Burnett and Jordan Evans, along with the likes of Mustafa, Aver Ray, Rami Dawod, Dev Hynes, and Never Enough contributor Dylan Wiggins, these songs are all spare and finely textured with the exception of "Call on Me," a sauntering, slightly ragged rocker offering assurance. The surplus of ambling ballads, especially during a stretch in the latter half that features the soft voices of Justin Vernon, Yebba, and Hynes, blurs the line between pleasantly languid and laborious. Near the end, there's a slight uptick in intensity. "No More Loving (On Women I Don't Love)" is an embittered duet between Caesar and equally dulcet sibling 646yf4t. It leads to the pointedly titled "Sins of the Father," a finale that moves from gorgeous neo-Philly soul to a few seconds of silence that precede a raw piano-and-voice bonus verse capped by "I'll forget your birthday like every year/Who gives a f*ck anyways?" It's a startling way to finish an album that contains signs of father-son reconciliation. Instead of tying it with a bow, Caesar flings it to the ground.

A1        Rain Down3:07
A2        Have A Baby (With Me)    3:45
A3        Call On Me    2:49
B1        Baby Blue 5:57
B2        Root Of All Evil    5:25
B3        Who Knows    3:50
C1        Moon5:17
C2        Touching God 4:41
C3        Sign Of The Times    3:51
D1        Emily's Song    2:54
D2        No More Loving (On Women I Don't Love) 3:18
D3        Sins Of The Father 7:50