Released on Oct. 24, Daniel Caesar’s fourth studio album, “Son of Spergy,” has reintegrated the grassroots nature of R&B back into the community. The album was highly anticipated after Caesar teased its upcoming release with a string of free pop-up shows. Across 12 tracks, Caesar experiments with new genres including folk and gospel and explores the struggle with his father and religion through intricate storytelling. “Son of Spergy” is Caesar’s most unique album yet.

Prior to its release, Caesar embarked on a tour across North America. Although it’s common for an artist to go on tour to generate excitement for an upcoming album, Caesar added a twist that is nearly unheard of in the modern music industry: The shows were completely free. The tour was comprised of locations that held sentimental value for Caesar, with the first two concerts taking place in Canada, Caesar’s home country and the tour concluding in Caesar’s current hometown of New York City. By showing up with no more than 12 hours notice, using public parks as his venues and performing free of charge, Caesar dismantled the physical and monetary barriers between the artist, audience and the art. In an age where concerts are becoming increasingly expensive, this gesture reestablished the sense of community and humanity that makes up the roots of R&B.

“Son of Spergy” offers a unique sound, mixing genres such as R&B and neosoul with gospel and folk. While past albums from Caesar have experimented with blending genres, “Son of Spergy” boldly leans into the gospel and folk aspects, evident in his collaborations with Bon Iver and Caesar’s own father, a former gospel singer. This album features sounds of folky guitars, piano melodies, peaceful strings and beautiful adlibs from Caesar. Occasionally nature sounds and church choirs will also fill the background. The surprisingly wonderful blend of noises adds a new spirit that hasn’t been heard in his previous albums.

However, the sound isn’t where the album deviates from Caesar’s discographical norm. “Son of Spergy” explores themes of identity, family, faith and masculinity, making this his most introspective and personal project yet. The title itself is a testament to this fact. Spergy is a nickname for Caesar’s father — a gospel singer and pastor. Accordingly, the title of the album represents the biological and spiritual relationship between Caesar and his father. When Caesar was 17 his father kicked him out for wanting to pursue the nontraditional path of songwriting, which led to him being homeless for a while. The album dives into their previously strenuous relationship, their years spent apart and what led to their current reconciliation. Interestingly, the connections to his family don’t end there. 

The track “No More Loving (On Women I Don’t Love)” features an artist by the name of 646yf4t who is actually Caesar’s brother, Zachary Simmonds, an emerging artist himself. Additionally, the nature sounds that loop in the background come from a recording on Caesar’s phone that was taken during a trip to Jamaica, the country where his family is originally from. It’s rare for Caesar to mention his family in his music, so the continuous familial references shows how introspective this album is for him.

Another major theme is Caesar’s personal struggle with his religious identity. For the first half of the album, he repeatedly calls out, pleads with and confides in the Lord. These cries are accompanied with loud church choirs and gospel music which conveys the feeling of his tense inner-battle. However, during track nine, “Sign of the Times,”  he stops directly addressing the lord and replaces it with an unidentified “mister.” While religion continues to be a prominent theme in the second half of the album, the choir and gospel shifted to play quietly in the background — concluding Caesar’s struggle with his faith, which no longer feels like a battle, but instead a soft whisper.

When “Son of Spergy” initially came out, it received negative feedback. Although Caesar’s fans mostly enjoyed the album, many said that it was underwhelming compared to his previous projects. A common concern among his fans was that it was boring and didn’t feature dramatic, popular hits similar to how his previous albums had. These concerns are valid, but I believe those critics are wrong. “Son of Spergy” is, in my opinion, Caesar’s most beautiful album. In the past, he has focused on themes of love and relationships, but Caesar has turned 30 years old recently, so the themes of this album mark a new beginning; the calamity and quietude of the album reflects his personal growth and maturation. Listeners should recognize that the strength of this album doesn’t lie in its sound, but in its storytelling.

Overall, I believe that “Son of Spergy” is Daniel Caesar’s best album and is on track to be one of the best albums of 2025. Caesar experimented with new themes, genres and sounds and exceeded expectations. Although the album didn’t create trendy hits, it produced timeless songs — my personal favorites from the album were “Who Knows” and “Moon (Feat. Bon Iver).” I’m interested to see if Caesar will continue to lean into more personal themes and what his blend with gospel and folk will do for the R&B community.