Daniel Caesar has us craving more in latest album “NEVER ENOUGH”
APRIL 18TH 2023 | by MADISON NORTH
Canadian R&B singer Daniel Caesar just dropped his more experimental third album NEVER ENOUGH. NEVER ENOUGH comes four years after Caesar’s sophomore album CASE STUDY 01. Throughout the album, he uses time as the main theme, taking us on journeys of his life and experiences.
The album starts off with “Ocho Rios” , an almost daunting track. Caesar sings about not feeling good enough for his partner, feeling like he is burdening them almost. He puts this person on a pedestal. Often when we are in love or have such strong feelings for someone we start to question our own worth because we feel the other person is too good for us. These feelings and reflections can also be seen in track 14, “Superpowers”, the second to last track on the album. However, this feels more like a love song and more certain. The tone of both the song and Caesar’s vocals are never wavering, there is no questioning his own worth while at the same time knowing this person is special. It’s interesting to see how both songs have similar themes of holding the one you love to a higher degree while simultaneously being different in one's own confidence within their worth in a relationship.
The second song off the record, “Valentina” is more upbeat, and has an almost cocky sound to it. In the song Caesar sings about knowing that this person is the one for him since the moment he met her. “Disillusioned” ft. serpentwithfeet, the eighth track, is another one of the more upbeat songs on the album. However, it focuses more on growing and aging. It takes us on a journey of maturing and reflecting on your life. Caesar tells about his fear of getting older and how he’s trying to be more ok with the inevitable future. Staying along the lines of reflection, “Toronto 2014”, ft. Mustafa transports us back to the beginning of Caesar’s career, whereas the eleventh song, “Pain Is Inevitable” also is a reflection of life, focusing on childhood.
In “Let Me Go”, Caesar sings of a relationship that he knows is over and he knows he can no longer be in, he just needs his partner to accept this reality. This is the opposite of the sixth track, “Always”. “Always “ talks about still being in love with someone even after they moved on, it’s about the hope that they will come back to you, the pining. Being in love with someone takes a toll on you, especially mentally. When the relationship has run its course letting go of that person is far from an easy thing to do but it’s what must be done for you to move on and heal.
The fifth track, “Do You Like Me?” has an almost sly and secretive sound to it. The sound and lyrics tend to contradict themselves. It’s almost like Caesar is trying to fake his confidence to this person. This sure sound is mixed with the overthinking of the relationship and what he means to this other person. “Fake it til you make it” is a phrase that comes to mind when I hear this song. Caesar feels sure that this person feels the same as him but at the same time has those doubts and so he over analyzes his interactions with them, something we all do when we start to develop feelings for someone.
Tracks “Cool” and “Vince Van Gogh” are similar to each other in the sense that they both deal with feeling like a fraud. “Cool” signifies putting on a front for others, to not let them see through your cracks. “Vince Van Gogh” deals with Caesar's struggles of feeling like a failure in his work. Everyone deals with the feelings of not feeling like you are good enough or that you feel weak. We often think if we show emotion then we are giving people the opportunity to take advantage of us. Equating fragility to emotion is something we are shown at young ages, it is something that especially in industries like entertainment, can make or break you.
“Buyer’s Remorse” ft. Omar Apollo, shows that the person we want isn’t always the person we need. Often we find ourselves so infatuated with someone that we create this idea of who they are, but this isn't reality. Once we have this person we start to see them as human and not as this untouchable thing. Infatuation leads us to view someone through the lenses of rose colored glasses, once the glasses come off though it can shake our reality and we are forced to really reflect on who we are and what we truly need, and not just want.
“Shot My Baby” is probably the most experimental song on the album in the way that it’s telling a fictional story. Caesar talks about killing his partner and the person his partner has been cheating on him with. While fictional, it’s something that many people can relate to. When someone we love betrays us, especially in the form of cheating we often think of the worst things we can do to that person, we want them to feel the way we do, to feel our pain. Before we can deal with the reality, we have to deal with our pain and that often comes through in the form of anger.
“Homisexual” talks about how Caesar’s ex has found platonic comfort in her female. Caesar also talks about how he misses his ex, we are often left to wonder though if he actually misses the person and the relationship or just the physical aspects of it. We can often confuse physical attraction and emotional attraction, tangling the two into a web.
The album ends on “Unstoppable”, a song that brings the album full circle. While Caesar starts off the album not feeling good enough for his partner, in “Unstoppable” he knows his worth and what he can bring to the table, the confidence drips from his voice.
NEVER ENOUGH, takes us on a journey of self-reflection through time. It’s the progression of knowing your worth and who you are, both in life and relationships. As the album flows we can see just how strong Caesar’s conviction grows. As we get older we can often feel like we don’t recognize ourselves, we do things we said we wouldn’t and can feel like we’ve let our younger selves down. But, we also learn from these mistakes and grow, trying to make our past selves proud in our journey. Standouts on this album for me are “Always”, “Disillusioned”, “Cool”, “Let Me Go”, “Do You Like Me?”, and “Ocho Rios”. Caesar’s cool and easy tone mixed with his smooth voice make this the perfect album to go for an evening drive with the windows down. The vibe of the album is easy-going and effortless while also being deeply personal. If you’re looking for an album that will make you feel like you’re floating away from reality, NEVER ENOUGH is for you.
Listen to “NEVER ENOUGH” the album by Daniel Caesar below.