CASE STUDY 01 — Home — What’s Cool?

I’m happy to say that there is finally another album for me to review on this blog. Unfortunately, this summer has been somewhat slow as far as musical releases go. Luckily, R&B artist Daniel Caesar has snapped that cold streak. This album’s shock drop with no lead up singles was a very pleasant surprise, and while this album isn’t perfect, there are gems throughout that will be on repeat as the summer goes on.

I need to preface this review by admitting that Daniel Caesar has a special place in my heart. Caesar’s 2017 release Freudian (which I rated 8/10) was one of my top 10 album releases from that year. Since Freudian’s rollout, I’ve returned to tracks such as “Get You” and “Best Part” which have become quite sentimental to me because of my relationship. Going into CASE STUDY 01 both my expectations and hopes were high, and while I wasn’t disappointed, this generally seems to be a slight regression for Caesar.

The most accurate description I’ve been able to come up with for this project is “bottom heavy”. The second half of tracks, specifically from “SUPERPOSITION” and onward, are a return to form for Caesar that perhaps exceeds the quality of music he’s ever released. Tracks 7 through 10, “SUPERPOSITION”, “TOO DEEP TO TURN BACK”, “COMPLEXITIES”, and “ARE YOU OK?” both feel sentimental and experimental; nostalgic and brand new simultaneously - which are the exact qualities that I turn to Caesar for. Beat switches, soft accompanying acoustic guitar, and Caesar’s signature vocal performances really round out CASE STUDY 01’s rocky start.

“CYANIDE” is one of the only tracks from the front half of this project that really caught my attention. Unique flows and high production value will likely make this track the highlight of many fan’s listens of this project. Besides that song, however, I was underwhelmed with the beginning tracks. “ENTROPY”, “LOVE AGAIN”, and especially “FRONTAL LOBE MUZIK” featuring Pharrell Williams just didn’t hit the mark in my opinion. I can’t even pinpoint why exactly I’m not drawn back to these tracks, which is why I don’t exclusively review music, but there’s just something that feels hollow about these tracks. Objectively they aren’t bad, but again, “SUPERPOSITION” is what kicks this album online to me, and salvages rating points that the first half of this album couldn’t produce.

I’m happy to have another Daniel Caesar album downloaded in my library, and I’m sure some of the tracks will be repeat listens for me. This is a generally a good album that could have great if the same production and attention to detail were given to the opening tracks. I’m excited to see which direction Caesar goes from here.

SCORE: 6/10