RELEASED 28TH JUNE 2019

Favourite Track: SUPERPOSITION

There is something so sad about this album but it’s got a beauty to it that comes from the regular use of guitar and Caesar’s recognisable vocals

Daniel Caesar is an artist I’ve been familiar with for some time. I actually attended a small concert of his in Birmingham around two years ago (I think…or maybe one) but it was amazing. He was incredible live (I was front row standing so I definitely picked up on all the singing) and already had quite the fan-base in Birmingham at least. I loved his songs ‘Get You’ and ‘Best Part’ from Freudian but also his rendition of Kanye West’s ‘Streetcar’ from his first album Pilgrim’s Paradise. When I saw that a new album was out I was VERY intrigued to see what kind of music this one would have and who he might be collaborating with now that he’s a lot more famous. Case Study 01 seems to still be very much Daniel Caesar without much collaboration at all but the cover art is rather mysterious with the shadow of a figure against a blue background.

There are 10 songs on the album and although I’m sure I could go on about all of them in a LOT of depth, these are meant to be 500 word (ish) reviews. The first track ‘ENTROPY’ also opens (much like a few we’ve heard) with an audio of someone speaking that then becomes an actual song. The beat is a background, echoey drum-kit kind of one with some cool synths in the background and dream guitar that compliments his higher pitched tone in this song. ‘CYANIDE’ opens with some nice ‘oooohs’ and more audio in the background but this time we have some piano and a soft beat. Caesar’s voice is chest-voice not head-voice this time and is stronger in this song. His tone is so calm and definitely relaxes you. ‘LOVE AGAIN’ featuring Brandy had a very old-Daniel Caesar type tone with a very slow RnB style as the song becomes a collaboration between the male and female voice.

I was surprised to see Pharrell Williams featured on ‘FRONTOL LOBE MUZIK’ which had more of a Trap beat in the background and muffled piano chords in the background. It had that slow RnB style but the lyrics came quicker this time in more of a Rap style but not 100%. ‘OPEN UP’ had a very Jazzy style RnB opening to it and I really liked this. This song seems a lot more interesting compared to the rest. It’s got that chill, heartbroken tone to it but this time it’s a little different. ‘RESTORE THE FEELING’ had a nice guitar opening with audio over it about song-writing that then becomes a cool quirky mix with a harder beat and distorted guitar melody from before and Caesar’s vocals are high pitched again which works well. I really like the melody of ‘SUPERPOSITION’ a lot. It’s got an old-world feel to it with simple guitar, sad strings and great singing. ‘TOO DEEP TO TURN BACK’ might just have you crying. It’s so nice sounding though. ‘COMPLEXITIES’ has the creepiest sounding opening I’ve heard of Caesar’s music but it’s interesting. The final song ‘ARE YOU OK?’ is probably necessary….are we ok after listening to this sad of an album with guitar and beautiful vocals that pull on the heartstrings?  

This album is good to just chill to. If you want to de-stress and relax, the album is consistently calm and his voice is soothing in itself.