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Review: ‘NEVER ENOUGH’ is Daniel Caesar’s most intimate project to date

“never enough” is a poignant and introspective reintroduction to the r&b artist’s musical persona..

“NEVER ENOUGH” is by far Daniel Caesar's most brutally personal and candidly human project to date. Released on April 7, Caesar’s third studio album is a melancholy amble into the Grammy award-winning artist’s psyche. The album delves into themes like death, romance, fame and maturity. Spread over 15 tracks with a run time of about 50 minutes, Caesar’s latest release — despite its title — is sure to satisfy his fans’ four-year itch for new music.

I approached “NEVER ENOUGH” as a casual “Get You” and “Best Part” enjoyer — two of Caesar’s most well-known songs. As neither an intense fan nor a doubtful skeptic, I simply put on my headphones and played the album from start to finish on a breezy Sunday afternoon, curious to hear what the renowned singer had to offer. In retrospect, I believe this was the best way to experience Caesar’s new work. The artist’s airy synths, ethereal vocals, serenading keys and sunset-beckoning strings arrive just in time to ease listeners back into the spring season.

The album opens with “Ocho Rios,” a slow-rising spectacle of classic Caesar proportions that tells the story of a lovesick songbird, a nameless muse and inevitable heartbreak. Caesar manipulates the pitch of his voice, singing the first verse in his signature falsetto and the second in a synthetic baritone. Like most of the neo-soul artist’s songs, Caesar’s lyrics are minimal and direct, lending the emotion of the song more so to his voice than to his pen. A choir of Caesar’s vocals back his main vocals, harmonizing with one another in a fluttering tapestry of tones. The song ultimately crescendos into a rose-petaled flurry of instrumentals by fellow Torontonian band BADBADNOTGOOD before melting into the second track “Valentina.” 

The production of “NEVER ENOUGH” is a standout, accentuating the intimacy and introspection of the project as a whole. Songs like “Toronto 2014 (with Mustafa), ” “Cool” and “Buyer’s Remorse (feat. Omar Apollo)” possess refrained instrumentations which allocate space for Caesar’s vocals to navigate complex topics like regret, nostalgia and longing. The dreamy chords of “Pain Is Inevitable” and “Vince Van Gogh” hug the listener’s ears as Caesar’s distorted voice warbles about existential anxieties like losing one’s innocence and desperately wanting to be remembered. “Do You Like Me?” has Caesar singing about the immaturity of young romance over a swaying, punchy beat, interspersed with distorted minor chords to reflect his love-drunk uncertainty. “Always” and “Superpowers” lean into more traditional R&B tropes, setting Caesar’s lyrics within a familiar and accessible ballad-infused backdrop.

At its core, “NEVER ENOUGH” is an album about new beginnings: The context surrounding its development certainly seems to suggest so. In 2022, Caesar signed to Republic Records — the record label giant behind megastars like Drake and Taylor Swift — officially departing from his status as an independent artist, which had long been an important part of his public persona. More significantly, Caesar had faced backlash in 2019 for his controversial comments regarding the attitudes of Black people towards cultural appropriation, with his “cancellation” largely being attributed for the lukewarm reception of his sophomore album “CASE STUDY 01”. Since the widely publicized incident, Caesar has largely avoided the public eye, taking advantage of the pandemic’s isolation to quietly participate in predominantly features and collaborations.

The pandemic also enabled Caesar to take on the role of producer, a first for the 28-year-old artist. The result is a project which is made all the more intimate by Caesar’s deeper-than-ever involvement — all but four songs on the album credit Caesar as a producer. In an interview with Variety, Caesar noted how producing influenced his music-making process, stating “I would [record instruments] first, because that came easiest, and I didn’t have to think so much. Then, I had to think really deeply about the lyrics.” Caesar also acknowledges that he’s still an amateur, saying “I’d been itching to [produce], and it was just the right time. I’m still stepping into it.” 

New beginnings are also reflected in Caesar’s lyrics through a variety of forms. “Disillusioned (with serpentwithfeet)” dichotomizes Caesar’s fears about the future with his hopefulness in starting a relationship with an unnamed lover. In the song’s chorus, he admits “and I, I’m scared of gettin’ older, it weighs upon my shoulders,” before suggesting, “and you, you're scared of it too.  / So we, maybe should get together.” In “Pain Is Inevitable,” Caesar repeats the lines “Pain is inevitable.  / Misery’s a choice,” revealing that while the afflictions of everyday living are unavoidable, remaining in that suffering is ultimately within our control. This hopeful chorus, which echoes throughout the song despite the despair permeating Caesar’s verses, implies a philosophical mantra through which the artist has come to newly understand his plight. “Unstoppable,” the closing track of the album, includes lines like “Who Jah bless, no man can curse” and, “And who’s gon stop me? I’m unstoppable, yes,” reaffirming a victorious Caesar who will not be held down by anyone — even himself.

It is this glimpse into a reborn Daniel Caesar which makes “NEVER ENOUGH” both a gratifying reward for loyal fans and a worthy introduction for new listeners. The album is a portrait of our most guarded emotional experiences, tugging and tearing at heartstrings in one song while soothing and subduing the soul in another. It invites listeners to wander in the minimalist magic of Caesar’s production and wonder at the angelic harmonies of his distinct voice. And while the album is certainly not groundbreaking sonically or lyrically, Caesar masterfully manipulates his talents to produce a work that is delicately familiar while also captivatingly refreshing. Truly, Caesar’s latest album is a triumph in that it leaves listeners excited for the future of his music. In the season of new life, “NEVER ENOUGH” feels like a gust of invigorating air, not just to the contemporary R&B scene, but to today’s musical landscape as a whole. 

Rating: ★★★★★

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The run will see the Grammy-winning artist perform in North America and Europe

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Daniel Caesar has announced details of a new tour set to take place next month, dubbed the Almost Enough: The Intimate Sessions tour.

The run of dates will kick off the day before the release of the star’s highly-anticipated new album, Never Enough , which arrives on April 7.

The multi-platinum, Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer will deliver once-in-a-lifetime performances on the Almost Enough: The Intimate Sessions tour, which will take him across North America and Europe. The shows will take Caesar back to his roots and into intimate venues that hark back to the small spaces he began his career in.

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The tour will begin in LA on April 6 before stopping in New York, Toronto, Paris, London, and Berlin. Tickets will go on sale via a special artist pre-sale at 10am local time on March 23, with a general sale beginning at 10am local time on March 24. Tickets will be available to purchase here.

Caesar shared his latest single, “Let Me Go,” in February, the second preview of Never Enough after January’s “Do You Like Me?.” Earlier this month, the artist shared a new video for the former track, which reached No.25 on the R&B Radio Chart. The visuals center around the star running out of a barn and through lush green hills. He will also perform the song live for the first time on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 30.

Never Enough will follow Caesar receiving a 2023 Juno Awards nomination for the Traditional R&B/Soul Recording category for his 2022 single “Please Do Not Lean feat. Badbadnotgood.”

The song arrived following a career-defining headlining performance at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. That set drew massive crowds and featured a surprise appearance by Justin Bieber to sing their smash hit “Peaches,” mirroring Caesar’s cameo during Bieber’s Grammys appearance earlier that year.

Pre-order  NEVER ENOUGH . View Daniel Caesar’s tour itinerary below.

Apr 6 – Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco Apr 11 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza Apr 13 – Toronto, ON – History Apr 18 – Paris, FR – Elysee Montmatre Apr 19 – London, UK – Here at Outernet Apr 22 – Berlin, DE – Huxleys Neue Welt

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Daniel Caesar Announces 2023 North American Tour Dates

Supporting his new album NEVER ENOUGH

Daniel Caesar has announced a lengthy run of 2023 tour dates across North America.

The 33-date trek commences on August 29th in Indianapolis before making stops in cities including Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York, Philadelphia, and more. He’ll be joined by a rotating cast of opening acts including Omar Apollo, Moses Sumney, Flying Lotus, Montell Fish, Orion Sun, and Charlotte Day Wilson (with BADBADNOTGOOD).

A Live Nation pre-sale begins Wednesday, June 14th (use code DISCO ), with general sale beginning on Friday, June 16th via Ticketmaster . Once tickets are on sale, you can also find them at StubHub , where orders are 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.

Caesar’s tour dates are in support of his new album  NEVER ENOUGH.

Daniel Caesar 2023 Tour Dates: 08/29 – Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre at Old National Centre ^ 08/30 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit ^ 08/31 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Andrew J Brady Music Center ^ 09/02 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Eagles Ballroom *^ 09/03 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed ^ 09/05 – Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live! *# 09/07 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy # 09/09 – Miami, FL @ FPL Solar Amphitheater # 09/10 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live # 09/12 – Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall # 09/13 – Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater # 09/14 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom # 09/16 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium # 09/17 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex # 09/20 – San Diego, CA @ Gallagher Square Park at Petco Park # 09/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl ! 09/23 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl *# 09/24 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre # 09/26 – Berkeley, CA @ The Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley *# 09/28 – Portland, OR @ Alaska Airlines’ Theater of the Clouds # 09/29 – Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater # 09/30 – Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum % 10/03 – Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome % 10/05 – Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place % 10/06 – Saskatoon, SK @ SaskTel Centre % 10/07 – Winnipeg, MB @ Canada Life Centre % 10/10 – Ottawa, ON @ Canadian Tire Centre % 10/12 – London, ON @ Budweiser Gardens % 10/13 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena > 10/15 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem ^ 10/16 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway ^ 10/17 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden + 10/19 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia ^

+ = w/ Omar Apollo and Montell Fish ^ = w/ Montell Fish # = w/ Orion Sun ! = w/ Flying Lotus and Orion Sun % = w/ Moses Sumney > = w/ Charlotte Day Wilson playing with BADBADNOTGOOD, and Moses Sumney

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Daniel Caesar On 'Never Enough' And The Pressures Of Responsibility, Fame & Sex

On his first album in nearly four years, Daniel Caesar reckons with responsibility: to himself, to fans, to lovers and friends. He spoke to GRAMMY.com about 'Never Enough,' and the darkness from which the new record grew.

The narrative of a meteoric rise and fall is compelling and tidy, it’s one we’re drawn to in artists both real and fictitious. But what happens when someone rockets to prominence, stays at the top, and realizes they might not love the view? That’s more complicated, and that’s what Daniel Caesar is going through.

The Toronto-based musician born Ashton Simmonds achieved critical recognition following his 2015 EP Pilgrim’s Paradise , later becoming a streaming darling and festival mainstay with 2017’s Freudian. He’s been nominated for nine GRAMMY awards, winning Best R&B Performance at the 2019 GRAMMYs, and has been part of several multi-platinum records. But achieving all of that by 27 has left the ever-philosophical singer at something of a crossroads.

"Plaques are boring to me and award shows are boring to me. I don’t enjoy sitting through the GRAMMYs," he tells GRAMMY.com. "I was looking for a feeling like, I respect myself and I know I did something and I can feel that the respect from my peers and the people who enjoy it is real."

That realization is reflected in the title of his latest LP, Never Enough, which comes nearly four years after 2019’s Case Study 01. The creative process began in quarantine when Caesar was holed up in his Toronto home. The music he wrote in that period of relative isolation was somber, and when his younger brother visited, he told Caesar that though the songs were good, "It doesn’t sound like you’re enjoying doing this."

Caesar shifted his focus, going for more of a "pill in the peanut butter" approach where some of the weightier concepts were cloaked in buoyant, elegant soundscapes. But this is a Daniel Caesar record, and it wouldn’t be complete without frank self-examination, psychological jargon, and morally gray tales of romance and fame. The album’s most compelling track, "Buyer’s Remorse," is built around a line that Caesar had been ruminating on: "I guess I got what I paid for," which he uses as a lens to explore both his relationship to celebrity and to his love life.

"I'm envious of people who just let life happen to them, because all the bad things, they can just blame on the devil and all the good things they get to thank God and they’re just a victim of their life," Caesar says. "But for me, every time I do something I’m like, 'Oh s—, I made that happen and I made this thing happen.' By taking responsibility for all your own actions, you are now responsible for all the misery in your own life and all the hurt caused to other people."

His honey-sweet voice is still a major draw, as he glides across songs like "Homiesexual" and "Superpowers" with Olympic-level grace.  Never Enough also sees Caesar progressing and experimenting sonically on the psilocybin-y "Do You Like Me," with its distorted vocals and groovy guitar, as well as "Shot My Baby," with its serrated riffs and bristling drums.

Ahead of the release of his third album, GRAMMY.com caught up with Daniel Caesar in New York to discuss how success at an early age forced him to reconsider his goals, the much darker album he scrapped before Never Enough, and his thoughts on the sentiments behind toxic R&B.

A consistent theme across songs like "Toronto 2004" and "Cool" is your sense of nostalgia and yearning for when things were all ahead of you. I’m curious, are you generally a nostalgic person or is that a sensation that has come upon you in the last few years?  

Yeah, I think it’s come upon me. For most of my life, my mother would always tell me [that] I was always in a rush to grow up, as so many of us are. I guess through COVID I got to this place where I was like, "Oh s—, I’m old." Like today, at lunch, I stood up really fast at the table and I felt my knee do a thing, you know? I hate that feeling so much. That’s a very literal interpretation of it, but I’ve been feeling nostalgic, missing being younger.

This time passed during the early part of the pandemic doesn’t feel like it counts, but it does. You can’t recoup it on the backend.

It’s so insane. Just two years feels like [it was] down the drain. It was the worst time in my life, but then it did become the best time of my life.

What changed?

I wouldn’t have taken that time to stop had I not been forced to. So much of my life had become about doing what I want when I want to do it, and that was one of those times where I couldn’t do what I wanted. I’m not used to that. I’m always a get-around-the-rules kind of guy, so, I couldn’t. [I] had to face things and work through things.

When I was in COVID just in complete isolation, I set up a studio in my guest house and I put whiteboard paint all over the walls. I think everything I made from then is still up. The apartment is still as I left it and it looks like a madhouse.

You were drawing on the walls?

Yeah. I wrote out a list of rules that I had to abide by, little phrases. I just went nuts and that’s how I set out. I remember when my little brother came back home, he came in there and saw what I was up to, and he said something that really [stuck with me]. I was completely isolated and I was really going through it. I was showing him the music and he was like, "Yo, this is sick, but it doesn’t sound like you’re enjoying doing this. It all sounds like you’re sad and laboring through this." He was 19, 20 at the time. He’s fresh, he’s green, he’s just like, "You don’t sound like you’ve been in here vibing." It was all slow driving in-the-rain music, you know? 

I got to the end of making the album and I was like, "It’s not good enough yet." It was how I was feeling, I wasn’t feeling happy, so it was an honest representation. But I wondered, is that what I want the world to feel? Is that what I want to give the world? So, then it turned into this more ambiguous, "I’m just going places and vibing things out and the album is creating itself." I made three albums in the process of making this album.

When you say the three albums, were each of them very distinct in terms of the tone? Was there an optimistic album, this darker one, or was it all different moods interspersed?

The first was dark. The second was a refining of the first one, I guess. It was like a gradual arc, but it was dark to dark themes dressed up pretty and happy.

The Trojan horse thing.

The Trojan horse thing. Put the pill in the peanut butter. I didn’t want to be negative, but at the end of the day, I can’t deny that negativity plays a role in my life, and sometimes that’s what drives me to write a song. 

Especially being in isolation, I was dealing with love where the honeymoon phase had come before COVID. I had gotten separated from my love because she lived in America and I lived in Canada, so this album is not about falling in love, it’s about the flipside of love.

The song that really stuck with me when I was listening was "Buyer’s Remorse." That concept gets explored in music in the sense of "Oh, being famous isn’t what I bargained for," but to hear it being very literally applied to a romantic relationship was interesting, because most people aren’t that frank about it.  

That one we did in New York. Omar [Apollo] was there and Sean Leone was there. I just had the line "I guess I got what I paid for" and I dunno what was going on around the time, but I was going through this lust phase. Being heart-hurt, being in love — I’ve always been hyper vulnerable and growing up you realize that if you carry yourself super vulnerably with all women all the time, [you’ll get hurt].

It’s like, This way I’ve been living my life isn’t conducive, it’s not safe. So let me just separate love and lust . I’ve been in love before, but at the same time, I have this sexual attraction to all these different women, strippers and prostitutes. It’s fine, you separate the two things and then you have them mastered. I was going through this whole era of transactional sex. I don’t love this person, but we’re gonna go on a date and I don’t have a crush on you, but it’s sex devoid of love.

You have this one interaction and then you go your separate ways and you maybe never talk again or don’t see each other for months.

And it’s not just about that, but that’s kind of where [the lyric] came from, "I guess I got what I paid for." It might not be apparent all the time, but I do have a strong self belief and feel like I am in control of my reality. I make things happen. I make an action, then something happens, and I don’t always like the consequences. 

I’m envious of people who just let life happen to them, because all the bad things, they can just blame on the devil and all the good things they get to thank God and they’re just a victim of their life. By taking responsibility for all your own actions, you are now responsible for all the misery in your own life and all the hurt caused to other people.

There are downsides to that approach, too, because you can’t run around pretending you have no agency.

It’s tricky. Being human is tough, it's just coping. What’s the best way I can be human to cope with being a human? I wanted to change my life so badly at one point, I was like, "Let me just take responsibility for everything." I don’t want to sound pious, because I feel like I can very easily skirt responsibility for things off myself. 

Every time in an interview I say something and then I think of four examples of me doing the opposite, so I’m like, "Oh, I’m a fucking phony." It makes it hard to speak sometimes.

Your rise in music coincided with the boom in toxic R&B , which indulges in that "I can’t help myself," sentiment. But I feel like when you write a song about having done something wrong, there’s a real sense of turmoil and trying to figure out how you move forward.

I think why it connects is because there’s a certain level of religious guilt to everything I do and say. It’s a real self-chastisement, so it’s not for aesthetics. I admire the aesthetic of "Ah f—, girl. I’m such a bad guy." It’s not like I don’t engage in that sort of [toxic] behavior, I just have a different psychology when I’m doing it. I just do it in a different way so you don’t even get the glorified sexualization of that behavior.

I just feel bad about it and I don’t even weaponize it. That’s not even like, to be pious or whatever, it’s just like ick. It is what it is, but it’s interesting.

Does the songwriting process allow you to work through things emotionally?

I’ll go into a song thinking something and then, a lot of times, what I’m thinking is reflected in the song. Other times, I do the song just vibing and then I’m like, "Oh s—, I didn’t even know that I thought that." I found it after. 

I go into an album thinking I know what I’m gonna sing about or write about, and then ¾ of the way through the album, it always changes. Every time I pick a title starting an album, I know it’s gonna change, but I pick it so that I have a bearing. I can’t stick to a program, so I know it’s gonna tell me what it is. With songs, too, I learn about myself by writing.

Was there another title before it was Never Enough?

It was called Pseudomutuality at one point.

"Pseudomutuality" is really interesting because thematically, it fits with the first two albums, but I think some of the most interesting stuff on the record is about your relationship with your audience. The "Vince Van Gogh" song is fascinating. Why was he the figure you wanted as that tragic artist archetype?  

Van Gogh’s art became valuable after he died. I thought about my last album, which was about death. I think about death all the time, and it was a decision that I was going to figure out more than just making songs.

That’s another big struggle. I say all the time, there are so many things I’m really bad at, but when I need a boost of confidence, I think about the fact that I’m really good at making songs.Marketing is a part of this job that I don’t enjoy. I don’t like the fact that I have to figure out TikTok. I’m still working, I’m still figuring it out, but "Vincent Van Gogh" was [saying] it’s not gonna be like "Oh that guy’s dead? He was f—ing great." I want to be here, I want to experience it.

There’s also a point, I can imagine, where you don’t want to feel that sense of responsibility.

All the time. I’m an artist and I’m inconsistent and I flip flop emotionally. Given the music business, [I’ve been] having this conversation the past year, like "Yo, can you please just be consistent." We were just talking about this earlier, like, "Yo, can you pick an outfit you like and wear it every day so when people think about this outfit they think about you" And I’m like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." And then tomorrow I’m gonna wake up and put on shorts and flip-flops and socks. I’m just working through it.

Do you feel like at this point, having gone through the last couple of years and making this record that you’re at a more sustainable place? It sounds like you were pretty burnt out prior.

Yeah, I was burnt out. It’s still tough all the time, but I’ve proven to myself that at least I’m not gonna give up. The horse is gonna have to buck me off, I don’t even know if it’s in me to bow out gracefully and get off the horse.

I wonder if you had released that darker first iteration of the album and had to deal with that, maybe it’d be hard for that to get you back to the place where it motivated you to keep making music.

I don’t think so. I think, regardless, I would’ve wanted to make [something] again. I don’t want to sit here and pretend like I don’t want commercial success. That’s another big part of why I’m fighting; that’s why I’m not only focusing on things I enjoy. I’ve proven to myself that I can make songs and make a comfortable living, but I want to push myself. I also want commercial validation, but if no one buys the album, I’m still gonna make another album.

It’s all about how you frame it. If you say "I want plaques," that’s cynical. But if you say "I want a large number of people to connect with this and keep playing it the way they did with [the last two]," that’s understandable. You want to reach a wide audience and have them dig it.

I got a plaque just the other day. Plaques are boring to me and award shows are boring to me. I don’t enjoy sitting through the GRAMMYs. I was looking for a feeling like, "I respect myself and I know I did something and I can feel that the respect from my peers and the people who enjoy it is real."

After getting the first GRAMMY, I was depressed. I was like I achieved that thing. I thought it would be way harder to get this . It’s like, okay you’re in the club, you’re on the world stage of making music and can make music with other really good people. You’re not an amateur.I can’t really express it through words, but there’s a certain feeling I’ll probably never get , which is why I’ll keep making albums.

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15 Must-Hear New Albums Out This Month: Metallica, Yaeji, Daniel Caesar, Hunter Hayes & More

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Between the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Coachella and a release calendar stacked with fresh debuts and long-awaited returns, this April makes for an exciting time for music lovers.

This month sees Everything but the Girl's first album since 1999, as well as milestone freshman releases from IVE and Yaeji. Hard rock legends Metallica blend punk with heavy metal on 72 Seasons , and Illenium introduces a host of rock subgenres to his EDM catalog. Y La Bamba and Daniel Caesar bear the honesty and confusion of heartbreak, while Bebe Rexha and NF look toward a more promising future. 

From country jams to pop divas, GRAMMY.com delivers a guide to 15 essential albums dropping in April 2023.

Daniel Caesar - NEVER ENOUGH

Release date: April 7

With three critically acclaimed albums and a hit collaboration with Justin Bieber under his belt, a soulful rendition of Kanye West 's "Street Lights" and his own passionate love ballads, Daniel Caesar has solidified his place as one of R&B's key players. 

Caesar's first studio album in nearly four years, NEVER ENOUGH , features introspective heartbreak singles "Do You Like Me?" and "Let Me Go," each of which meld blues and R&B. Caesar will commence the Almost Enough: The Intimate Sessions tour through North America on April 6 to highlight the new music.

Yaeji - With A Hammer

After a successful slew of festival appearances, mixtapes, EPs and even a merch drop on Animal Crossing, house DJ Yaeji is opening a new chapter of childlike exuberance. Her debut studio album, With A Hammer , features collaborations with fellow rising EDM artists Loraine James, Enayet, K Wata, and Nourished By Time and will dovetail with a North American tour later this month.

In an interview with Pitchfork , Yaeji explained that she curated a 111-page booklet to contextualize the release. The With A Hammer booklet details a fictional journey tinged with magical wizard dogs and conscious hammers, which she loosely references in the music video for the album’s second single, "Done (Let’s Get It)." Yaeji refers to the story as her inner "spunky kid who has just awakened and is trying to scream."  

Rae Sremmurd - SREMM4LIFE

In the mid-2010’s, Rae Sremmurd’s "No Flex Zone," "No Type" and "Swang" dominated radio stations and streaming platforms. The Mississippi-based hip-hop duo' "Black Beatles" had similar resonance, becoming the theme song for 2016's viral mannequin challenge and inspired Nicki Minaj 's flirty remix, "Black Barbies."  

There has been no news of a comeback since 2018's SR3MM , while frequent solo endeavors from Swae Lee made a fourth release seem unimaginable. On March 9, the pair unexpectedly announced that the wait was finally over: Rae Sremmurd has finally reunited for their fourth album, SREMM4LIFE , leading with the cheeky single, "Tanisha (Pump That)."

Linkin Park - Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)

Revisit the magic of Linkin Park 's Meteora with a repackaged 20th Anniversary Edition. The group's sophomore album features some of the best-selling tracks in the band's discography, including the quadruple-platinum, GRAMMY-winning "Numb" and the Billboard Modern Rock chart-topping "Faint."

The revamped version includes six unreleased songs from the Meteora archives, most notably "Lost," which showcases the vocals of late frontman Chester Bennington . In a press statement, guitarist and vocalist Mike Shinoda said, "Finding this track was like finding a favorite photo you had forgotten you'd taken, like it was waiting for the right moment to reveal itself. For years, fans have been asking us to release something with Chester's voice, and I'm thrilled we've been able to make that happen in such a special way."

Rapper NF is a silent star, quietly creeping onto the scene in late 2017 with his hit single, "Let You Down." Despite pulling over a billion streams on a single song, most people tend to overlook the existence of the artist born Nathan Feuerstein. In fact, he prefers it that way. NF's music was never about fame, but a place to lay out his battles with OCD and grapple with the resulting trauma of his upbringing.

On his upcoming project, HOPE , NF turns a new leaf, welcoming fans to indulge in a more optimistic view of the future. As he acknowledges the happiness he’s found in his wife and children on the album's titular single: "I'm a prime example of what happens when you choose to not accept defeat and face your demons." 

IVE - I’ve IVE

Release date: April 10

After stepping into the K-pop landscape in December 2021, IVE quickly became one of the industry's leading fourth generation girl groups . Tracks "Love Dive" (2022) and the viral Gloria Gaynor -sampling "After Like" (2022) ruled Korea's music charts, simultaneously receiving acclaim in the United States as one of the best K-pop songs of 2022 by NME and Teen Vogue . With such skyrocketing success, it's an understatement to say the anticipation for IVE's first studio album, I've IVE , is high.

I've IVE is a culmination of the confident IVE ethos, as their company, Starship Entertainment, described in a press release. To celebrate the release of their long-awaited album, IVE will begin the second leg of their Asia tour, The Prom Queens, this June.

Metallica - 72 Seasons

Release date: April 14

Fans have eagerly anticipated the heavy metal legends’ return since March 2019, when bassist Robert Trujillo teased the start of their eleventh studio album. Kicking off their new album is the guitar-heavy, punk-influenced "Lux Æterna." Following "Lux Æterna" are two more classic heavy metal tracks, "Screaming Suicide" and "If Darkness Had a Son."

In support of 72 Seasons , Metallica will embark on a North American tour  with support from Architects, Mammoth WVH, Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, Ice Nine Kills, Pantera, and Greta Van Fleet. Each city will see Metallica in a two-night performance containing two completely different setlists and opening acts.

Hunter Hayes - Red Sky

Release date: April 21

Knowing that the hazy turquoise of Hunter Hayes ’ Wild Blue would be his final major label studio release, his seventh full-length album, Red Sky , becomes all the more symbolic. 

Red skies often signify change — a fitting title and visual as Hayes comes into himself as a fully independent artist. "This project is about the adventure of finding yourself," Hayes said on Instagram after unveiling two pop-country singles, "Sober" and "Someone Will." "Lyrically, it's for anyone who needs a reminder of how unique your fire inside is and how much the world needs more you in it." 

Hayes will begin his Red Sky Tour on May 6 in San Diego, culminating in Denver on June 3. 

Easy Star All Stars - Ziggy Stardub

New York-via-Jamaica reggae collective Easy Star All-Stars are known for their addicting interpretations of music’s most renowned albums: They’ve conquered the Beatles ’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band , Michael Jackson ’s Thriller , and Pink Floyd ’s Dark Side of the Moon .

Next on their list is David Bowie ’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars , now titled Ziggy Stardub , out on Easy Star Records. The album will feature guest appearances from Macy Gray , Steel Pulse , Alex Lifeson of Rush, Fishbone, Vernon Reid of Living Colour, and more. The first glimpse into the cosmic world of reggae Ziggy Stardust is "Starman," a charismatic take on Bowie’s single of the same name.

Jethro Tull - RökFlöte

On RökFlöte , prog rock pioneers Jethro Tull offer their own take on Norse mythology, specifically the apocalyptic tale of Ragnarök. The band's 23rd album launches with the release of "Ginnungagap," a flute-led rock tune inspired by the god Ymir. 

According to their press release, RökFlöte will largely be an instrumental homage to the group's incorporation of the flute. Throughout, Ian Anderson and co. will explore the storyline of "the characters and roles of some of the principal gods of the old Norse paganism."

Everything but the Girl - Fuse

It was an entirely different century the last time we saw Everything but the Girl. Since the release of Temperamental in 1999, the duo behind the sophisti-pop band got married to each other, published memoirs, and worked on solo efforts. Fuse holds Everything but the Girl in a modern context, exploring topics of love and anxiety.

Chatting with the New York Times , EBTG's Tracey Horn credits quarantine boredom for sparking the idea of reuniting as a duo. "We were confronted with the decision that a lot of people were confronted with: what are we going to do now? Are we going back to what we were doing? Or, is this the start of something new?"

Bebe Rexha - BEBE

Release date: April 28

In 2018, Bebe Rexha's contemplative Expectations narrated negative self-talk, heartbreak, and instability.  With the release of her 2022 chart-topper, "Blue (I'm Good)," and the lead single from her forthcoming self-titled album, Rexha reveals that she's settled into a happier place. No longer tied down to broken relationships or burdened by depression, Rexha just wants to have fun — and it shows on "Heart What It Wants." 

Bebe is a celebration, a requiem to the nights spent crying that led to her current bliss. Most importantly, it's an opportunity to connect with her supporters. "I want to see my fans in person. I want to play the deeper cuts, feel the energy of my fans," Rexha told Elite Daily in November.

Y La Bamba - Lucha

Latin indie alternative band Y La Bamba's Lucha has been a long time in the making, starting development right before the outbreak of COVID-19. Eventually, Lucha grew into a collection of stories of queerness, Chicanx identity, and loneliness prompted by the isolation of the pandemic. 

The album's lead single, "Dibujos de Mi Alma," chronicles the ambivalent feeling of loving someone but also recognizing it's time to move on. As lead vocalist Luz Elena Mendoza croons in Spanish, "Although it hurts, you will find/ The traces of another will give you affection." If "Dibujos" is any indication, the rest of Lucha 's vulnerable yet relatable tracks will pull at your heartstrings.

Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!

Fresh off Harry Styles ' Love On Tour, Jessie Ware returns with her fifth studio album, That! Feels Good! The lead single, "Free Yourself," confirms that the singer is not leaving the disco present on her previous What's Your Pleasure ? just yet.

In a press release, Ware explained that the album’s second single, "Pearls" was heavily influenced by disco divas Donna Summer , Evelyn "Champagne'' King, Teena Marie , and Chaka Khan . The album is a reflection of her growth, she continued. " That! Feels Good! stems from over 10 years of understanding who I am, and who I enjoy being as an artist and the thrill of performance."

Illenium - ILLENIUM

You probably know Illenium from his dance-pop tracks and remixes, including collaborations from the Chainsmokers , Khalid, Tori Kelly, and most recently, a rendition of Taylor Swift 's Midnights ' single, "Anti-Hero." But on his upcoming self-titled album, the EDM heavyweight is charting new territory.

With assistance from Jxdn , Travis Barker , Avril Lavigne , All Time Low, Motionless in White, and others, Illenium will be crossing over into rock sub-genres, ranging from emo rap to heavy metal. If you're a lover of EDM-pop fusion, don't worry too much — this album still holds Illenium's signature sound in his tracks with MAX, Nina Nesbitt, JVKE, and Skylar Grey.

Listen: 50 Essential Songs By The Beach Boys Ahead Of "A GRAMMY Salute" To America's Band

Graphic: The Recording Academy

Explore The Visual Worlds Of This Year's Best Music Video Nominees | 2022 GRAMMYs

After another year of awe-inspiring and conversation-starting visuals, AC/DC, Jon Batiste, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber (with Daniel Caesar and Giveon), Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, and Olivia Rodrigo compete for the night's music video honor

Editor's Note:  The 2022 GRAMMYs Awards show, officially known as the 64th GRAMMY Awards,   has been rescheduled  to Sunday, April 3, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The below article was updated on Tuesday, Jan. 18, to reflect the new show date and location.

These days, a song's visual component is practically as important as the song itself. The artists nominated for Best Music Video at the 2022 GRAMMY Awards show understand that well, and now one of them will have a GRAMMY to prove it.

This year's lineup spans pop, hip-hop, rock, and even a jazz classic: AC/DC's 'Shot In The Dark', Jon Batiste's 'Freedom', Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga's 'I Get A Kick Out Of You', Justin Bieber's 'Peaches' (featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon), Billie Eilish's 'Happier Than Ever', Lil Nas X's 'Montero (Call Me By Your Name)' and Olivia Rodrigo's 'good 4 u."

As we wait for the 64th GRAMMY Awards — airing on CBS on April 3, 2022 — to find out who will take home Best Music Video (which is awarded to the artist, video director, and video producer), revisit this year's nominees below.

"SHOT IN THE DARK" — AC/DC

David Mallet, video director; Dione Orrom, video producer

https://youtu.be/54LEywabkl4

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When AC/DC needed a music video that matched the muscle of their 2020 comeback single, "Shot In The Dark," the legendary hard rock band turned to longtime friend and collaborator David Mallet.

Mallet is a rock lifer, having directed music videos and concert films for rock royalty like Queen's Freddie Mercury, Def Leppard and, of course, AC/DC. His relationship with the band dates back to his music video for the reissued "You Shook Me All Night Long" in 1986.

For "Shot In The Dark," which appears on AC/DC's 17th album (and first since 2014), Power Up, Mallet captures the band in full flight on an arresting black and red stage. Flashes of singer Brian Johnson, lead guitarist Angus Young, bassist Cliff Williams, and rhythm guitarist Stevie Young illuminated with bolts of light — "electric sparks," as they might say — trade off with the epic performance.

The video is reminiscent of their performance-based "You Shook Me All Night Long" clip, and watched side-by-side, it's hard to believe 35 years have passed.

Read More: Take A Deep Dive Into This Year's Best Pop Vocal Album Nominations | 2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show

"FREEDOM" — Jon Batiste

Alan Ferguson, video director; Alex P. Willson, video producer

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Following the March 2021 release of his eighth artist album, WE ARE, singer and band leader Jon Batiste clearly sensed the world needed some cheering up.

In June, Batiste unveiled the music video for "FREEDOM," a track from WE ARE, the singer's eighth album that's full of bright horns, body-moving percussion and the singer's distinctive vocal tones. The video for the uplifting song brings that vivacity to life.

Shot over two days in the Seventh Ward of New Orleans — Batiste's hometown — "FREEDOM" brings in all the joy and spirit of the neighborhood (and its marching bands) with a high-energy street party.

Director Alan Ferguson is a virtuoso behind the camera, as evidenced by his past music videos for Lizzo, Solange and Janelle Monáe. Ferguson's video for Batiste's soul-lifting anthem is all quick cuts and bursts of color. By the time the song hits the first "let me see you wobble" refrain, you'll want to do just that.

Read More: Who Has The Most GRAMMY Nominations This Year? The 2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show Nominees By The Number

"I Get a Kick Out Of You" — Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga

Jennifer Lebeau, video director; Danny Bennett, Bobby Campbell & Jennifer Lebeau, video producers

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It's always an occasion when mutual admirers Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga get together in the studio, and the pair's 2021 version of Cole Porter's "I Get A Kick Out of You" carries even more gravitas.

The song appears on Bennett and Gaga's second collaborative album (and Album Of The Year nominee), Love for Sale. Featuring 10 covers of Porter's jazz standards, the project has been billed as Bennett's final album, capping one of the great American musical careers.

The heartwarming video for "I Get A Kick Out of You" sees Gaga and Bennett trading off verses as they record the track at New York City's Electric Lady Studios. It's both touching and emotional, as Gaga adoringly watches Bennett croon, at one point with tears in her eyes.

Industry veteran Jennifer Lebeau caught the mood in the lighthearted visual, as it mirrors the song's laidback feel and analogue warmth — perfectly capturing the affection between the cross-generational collaborators.

Read More: Meet This Year's Best New Artist Nominees | 2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show

"Peaches" — Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon

Collin Tilley, video director

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"Peaches," featuring R&B favorites Daniel Caesar and Giveon, the fifth single from Justin Bieber's latest Album Of The Year nominee, Justice, has proven to be the LP's biggest hit. A purely feel-good jam, the song needed a music video with charm to match.

Bieber called on in-demand director Colin Tilley, who has since directed the singer's video for his Kid LAROI collab "STAY" and his emotionally raw "Ghost" clip. For "Peaches," Tilley shot Bieber, Caesar and Giveon cruising a neon-lit cityscape in a vintage car, taking turns riding on the hood and top of the vehicle to deliver their lines.

The vid flips between two other scenes that allow the singers to dance as they serenade, the first showing the song's title in massive letters lining a mirrored runway. Finally, the trio gather inside a dome with flashing colored lights, with Bieber sporting a fittingly peach-colored suit.

Read More: Meet This Year’s Song Of The Year Nominees | 2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show

"HAPPIER THAN EVER" — Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish, video director; Michelle An, Chelsea Dodson & David Moore, video producers

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Billie Eilish's hugely anticipated second album, Happier Than Ever developed a slower, slinkier tone for her sophomore effort to delve deep into the anxieties and contradictions of life in the spotlight. Lead single "my future" and its follow-up "Therefore I Am" set that pensive mood, with the latter's music video directed by Eilish herself.

Eilish returned as director on the music video for title track "Happier Than Ever," which arrived in conjunction with the album's release in July. It mirrors the song's slow build to a cathartic pay-off, as Eilish escapes from a flooded house and lets it all out on the rainswept roof.

Compared to the intentionally lo-fi feel of the "Therefore I Am" visual, "Happier Than Ever" marked an ambitious step up, with Eilish using the shoot to confront her own fear of water.

Read More: Meet This Year's Record Of The Year Nominees | 2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show

"MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" — Lil Nas X

Lil Nas X & Tanu Muino, video directors; Frank Borin, Ivanna Borin, Marco De Molina & Saul Levitz, video producers

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If Lil Nas X hadn't already made it clear that he's not afraid to push boundaries, his "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" did the trick. The controversial clip takes an untraditional approach to biblical and mythology-inspired scenes, including The Garden of Eden, a Roman colosseum, and heaven and hell.

Like the song itself, the "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" video serves as a representation of Lil Nas X's unabashed openness about his sexuality (the rapper came out as gay in 2019). He kisses a snake, dresses in Marie Antoinette-esque drag, and pole dances, before the video reaches its pinnacle shock-factor moment that sees the rapper giving the devil a lap dance — sporting thigh-high heeled leather boots, no less.

While it certainly caused a stir among conservative and religious groups upon its release, the "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" video is actually quite a thought-provoking combination of themes. Above all, it was an important bold statement for Lil Nas to make, with a Variety article even stating that the video "has changed everything for queer music artists."

Read More: Meet This Year's Album Of The Year Nominees | 2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show

"good 4 u" — Olivia Rodrigo

Petra Collins, video director; Christiana Divona, Marissa Ramirez & Tiffany Suh, video producers

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After the runaway success of the heartbreak anthem "driver's license," Olivia Rodrigo quickly proved she wasn't going to be a one-hit wonder with "good 4 u" — both thanks to its scream-along chorus and its nostalgia-inducing video.

The noughties-channelling pop-punk smash about a scorned lover demanded an acid-dipped visual, and millennial expert Petra Collins perfectly executed that need. In the clip, Rodrigo plays a revenge seeking high school cheerleader — referencing characters from feminist horror movies like Jennifer's Body and Audition — as she raises hell across an unsuspecting high school.

At the song's bridge, Rodrigo (who has done her fair share of acting, most notably in the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: the Series) looks into the camera, hauntingly caressing it with her black leather gloves. Meanwhile, a messy-haired version of herself sets her ex-boyfriend's bedroom ablaze, giving a devilish grin before delivering the final "good for you" howl.

2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show: Complete Nominations List

Meet This Year’s Song Of The Year Nominees | 2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show

Here's everyone who's up for the vaunted GRAMMY for Song Of The Year at the 2022 GRAMMYs Awards show: Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Olivia Rodrigo, H.E.R., Billie Eilish, Doja Cat, SZA, Silk Sonic, Lil Nas X, Justin Bieber and Brandi Carlile

What were the songs that defined your 2021, a year where the world tentatively felt its way back to normalcy? Were they Olivia Rodrigo's bedroom-floor ruminations? Billie Eilish's hushed revelations? Lil Nas X's colorful odes to LGBTQ+ romance? Silk Sonic's gilded funk-soul throwbacks?

Well, all those artists are up for Song Of The Year at the 2022 GRAMMYs Awards show — as are Ed Sheeran ("Bad Habits"), Alicia Keys feat. Brandi Carlile ("A Beautiful Noise"), Olivia Rodrigo ("drivers license"), H.E.R. ("Fight for You"), Billie Eilish ("Happier Than Ever"), Doja Cat feat. SZA ("Kiss Me More"), Silk Sonic ("Leave The Door Open"), Lil Nas X ("MONTERO [Call Me By Your Name]"), Justin Bieber feat. Daniel Caesar and Giveon ("Peaches") and Brandi Carlile ("Right On Time").

While the 2022 GRAMMYs Awards show will offer all the esteemed categories viewers have come to expect, there's truly no category like Song Of The Year. It's a testament to artists who have mastered how to pack personality, punch and poetry into just a few minutes.

These are artists who best leveraged their outlets to shepherd us through uncertain times, find joy in the small things and weave the sounds, rhythms and melodies that drive our days and nights. Ahead of the ceremony on April 3, 2022, here are the nominees for Song Of The Year.

Nominations for the 2022 GRAMMYs Awards show are officially here! See the full list of nominations.\

"bad habits" — ed sheeran.

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Don't let the title of "Bad Habits" — or Sheeran's Dracula-fanged visage in its video — tell you otherwise. The four-time GRAMMY winner's slinky lead single from his new album, =, is a guilt-free pleasure.

And the tune's sheer pop patina belies a surprising fact: Sheeran didn't initially hear "Bad Habits" as the single.

"My single was scheduled to come out in June, and I was like, 'I don't know if the world needs a depressing sad, slow acoustic song when it's all opening up,'" he told James Corden on The Late Late Show in 2021. "So, I was in the studio and we created this song and it's just fun, I think."

That's an understatement when it comes to its firepower — "Bad Habits" is a sly, hooky delight.

Read More: Fall 2021 Album Guide: From Taylor Swift to ENHYPEN to NBA Youngboy, 10 Upcoming Releases To Listen To As The Seasons Change

"A Beautiful Noise" — Alicia Keys feat. Brandi Carlile

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There's no lever of democracy like the power to vote — so why do roughly half of those eligible in America choose not to do so?

The answer is complicated and manifold, but that didn't stop Keys and Carlile — plus a consortium of other powerful female songwriters, from Brandy Clark to Lori McKenna to Linda Perry — from doing something about it ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Together, they concocted the impactful "A Beautiful Noise," a gentle-yet-firm song of urging to get regular folks to use their oft-neglected democratic powers.

Sure, one person's vote might be a drop in the ocean, Keys acknowledges in the song. But together, the electorate is like an unstoppable deluge.

"When you're all alone, it's a quiet breeze," she sings. "But when you band together, it's a choir of thunder and rain."

Take A Look Back: For The Record: Inside Alicia Keys' Masterpiece Songs in A Minor At 20

"drivers license" — Olivia Rodrigo

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The lovelorn ballad that leveled the internet proved to only be the beginning for Rodrigo. Her 2021 album Sour uses it as a diving-board into a multitude of styles.

Still, it arguably remains her signature song. Why? Because it's possible no other songwriter has captured this very specific locus on the map of heartache.

"drivers license" is about spending your entire relationship ideating the point where you can drive to your beau's pad — only for him to move on right at the moment of truth.

The gut punch? "Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me," Rodrigo sings in the chorus. "'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street."

"Fight For You" — H.E.R.

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If the global racial reckoning in 2020 was like the cauterization of a wound, H.E.R.'s "Fight for You" is like those first spasms of pain — good, necessary, authentic pain.

From Gabi Wilson's first, wordless aria to the spectral chorale that carries it to the end, the song feels like a Pandora's box of psychological nightmares, finally exorcised into the ether.

"Their guns don't play fair/All we got is a prayer," she sings over a rhythm-and-blues backing that wouldn't sound out of place on a Marvin Gaye or Donny Hathaway record. "It was all in their plans/Wash the blood from your hands."

Musically, it shows Silk Sonic weren't the only vanguards for horn-fueled soul in 2021: H.E.R.'s contribution to Judas and the Black Messiah feels like a throwback in the most vivid, meaningful way.

Take A Look Back: H.E.R. Wins Song Of The Year For "I Can't Breathe" | 2021 GRAMMY Awards Show

"Happier Than Ever" — Billie Eilish

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Let's set lyrics aside for a second and talk about pure sound: is there another pop phenom doing more with less than Eilish?

The title track to 2021's Happier Than Ever is little more than guitar, voice and some subtle, spacey ambience from her brother and co-conspirator FINNEAS.

As for the words themselves, they're economical and beautiful: "When I'm away from you/ I'm happier than ever," she croons in the chorus. "Wish I could explain it better/ I wish it wasn't true."

But then, the production tilts from dreamland into realism, and the words shift with the vibe: the object of her heartache is careening drunk while behind the wheel. Eilish, too, swerves from philosophical to flat-out vindictive. And as the song explodes into punishingly noisy and bitcrushed dimensions worthy of a Microphones track, it all crescendos with five words: "Just f***ing leave me alone!"

Read More: Billie Eilish's Road To Happier Than Ever: How The Superstar Continues To Break Pop's Status Quo

"Kiss Me More" — Doja Cat feat. SZA

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Put yourself in this character's shoes. A fetching spaceman — played by Grey's Anatomy actor Alex Landi — winds up in a far-flung galaxy populated by (you guessed it) Doja Cat and SZA.

Just as things get steamy, it's revealed that he's unconscious in a tube of liquid, his consciousness plugged into a video-game netherworld. In other words, he's a plaything.

Such is the girl-power message of the duo's "Kiss Me More," where sex and love and flirtation are on their own terms. But the sentiment wouldn't mean much without a high-thread-count pop song to match, and every second of the hooky track delivers.

"I feel like me and SZA are similar in the way that we both grew up with spiritual backgrounds, but she was perfect for this song," Doja — who grew up in Alice Coltrane's ashram — told Capital XTRA Breakfast at the time. "She was in my heart when I wrote this."

Read More: From Meme Queen To Popstar: Revisiting Doja Cat's Inevitable Breakout

"Leave the Door Open" — Silk Sonic

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Take it from a writer who combs through hundreds of hyperbolic pitches about the Next Big Thing per day — it's nice to finally get some truth in advertising.

"We're making music to make women feel good and make people dance, and that's it," Anderson .Paak, who is one half of the R&B/soul duo Silk Sonic with Bruno Mars, recently told Rolling Stone. "It's not gonna make people sad."

This frank evaluation of what Silk Sonic does may not seem particularly deep at first blush, but this simplicity is a feature, not a bug.

On a musical level, Mars and .Paak are making far more than feel-good party music. Even YouTube music dissector Rick Beato was blown away by the sophisticated, jazzy chords they brought back to the airwaves decades after AOR classics like Steely Dan's Aja.

Silk Sonic finally dropped their debut full-length, An Evening With Silk Sonic, after months of living with the funky, soulful, glittery highlight "Leave the Door Open."

Even with all these other tunes to enjoy, it remains the gravitational center of the release — and a reminder that Beato-friendly music is hurtling back into the zeitgeist.

Read More: The 64th GRAMMY Awards: Everything You Need To Know About The 2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show & Nominations

"MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" — Lil Nas X

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On 2019’s smash "Old Town Road," we met Lil Nas X: a TikTok star with a boy-next-door grin even as he participated in a subversive, age-old cultural fusion of Black and white culture.

But in 2021, with the hat and spurs and Billy Ray Cyrus in the rearview, we met Montero.

That's the real name of the born Montero Lamar Hill, and the name of his long-awaited debut album. And on the titular single "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)," his Blackness and gayness — and musical intrepidity — are on fearless display.

"I feel like we've come to a time in music where everything is nice and nothing is really cutting-edge or starting conversations any more," Lil Nas X recently told Time about its delightfully racy video. "I want to be part of a conversation that actually applies to my situation and so many people that I know."

"MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" hasn't just started a conversation — it set the course for the rest of this American original's career.

Take A Look Back: Lil Nas X, BTS & Billy Ray Cyrus Enter The "Old Town Road" Multiverse At The 2020 GRAMMYs

"Peaches" — Justin Bieber feat. Daniel Caesar & Giveon

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Fifty-five years after the Beach Boys wished that females the nation round could be "California Girls," Bieber sang in no uncertain terms about what the various regions of the USA could do for him.

"I got my peaches out in Georgia/ I get my weed from California," he sings in "Peaches," his single from 2021's Justice. "I took my chick up to the North/ I get my light right from the source."

It's pretty obvious that Biebs is paying tribute to his wife, Hailey — and his collaborators also shout out long-lasting, long-suffering relationships.

While Daniel Caesar proclaims "There's no time, I wanna make more time / And give you my whole life," Giveon croons, "Your kisses taste the sweetest with mine/ And I'll be right here with you 'til the end of time."

For anyone ready and willing to settle down with one's main squeeze, that's a sentiment one can vibe with.

Take A Look Back: The GRAMMY Oral History: Justin Bieber's Purpose

"Right On Time" — Brandi Carlile

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As a member of the Highwomen amid a contemporary wave of confessional, thoughtful Americana singer/songwriters (see also: Margo Price, Jason Isbell, Julien Baker, et al) Carlile knows her way around a lyric that acts as a knife-twist.

"Right on Time," the crestfallen lead-off track from her 2021 album In These Silent Days, is full of them. "I never held my breath for quite this long," she sings near the end. "And I don't take it back / I did what I had to do."

To hear Carlile tell it, she wrote "Right on Time" to attempt to best her last signature song, "The  Joke" (which also received a SOTY nod in 2018). "It was a once-in-a-lifetime song," she told Spin in 2021. "I wanted to hit that mark of drama again." And when this tune came spilling from her pen?

"[I] felt like the pressure was off in terms of getting my heart to come out of my mouth," she recalled. And she need not worry whether she measured up to her last zenith: "Right on Time" is a classy, timeless triumph.

Meet This Year's Record Of The Year Nominees | 2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show

Take a look at the tracks that are up for Record Of The Year by ABBA, Jon Batiste, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Brandi Carlile, Doja Cat & SZA, Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo, and Silk Sonic

Right off the bat, 2021 showed promise for another year of massive hits with unforgettable hooks thanks to Olivia Rodrigo's record-breaking smash "driver's license." 

Less than two months later, Anderson .Paak and Record Of The Year veteran Bruno Mars kicked off the Silk Sonicera with the instantly memorable jam "Leave the Door Open." In the months that followed, Billie Eilish struck again with her sophomore album, Doja Cat and SZA teamed up for one hell of an earworm, and both Lil Nas X and ABBA shook the world (for very different reasons).

Suffice to say, the race for Record Of The Year — which is awarded to the artist and the producer(s), recording engineer(s) and/or mixer(s) and mastering engineer(s) — is going to be a tight one at the 2022 GRAMMY Awards show. 

With ABBA, Jon Batiste, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Brandi Carlile, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, Doja Cat and SZA, Olivia Rodrigo, Silk Sonic, and Justin Bieber, Daniel Caesar and Giveon delivering equally impactful tunes, it's really anyone's to win. 

Before tuning into the show on April 3, 2022, get fully acquainted with this year's ROTY nominees below.

Nominations for the 2022 GRAMMYs Awards show are officially here! See the full list of nominations.

Abba — "i still have faith in you".

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ABBA sent the world into a frenzy upon their much-anticipated return in September, when they released the first two songs from Voyage, their first album in 40 years. 

"I Still Have Faith In You," a heartfelt ode to their friendships that have endured throughout their time apart, is a song that the group wrote in 2018 along with its partner single, "Don't Shut Me Down." 

"New spirit has arrived/ The joy and the sorrow/ We have a story and it survived," the Swedish superstars sing on the chorus over a majestic rhythm, building to a series of dazzling harmonies for the song's epic finish. It's a musical odyssey that is oh-so-classic ABBA.

Believe it or not, this nomination marks ABBA's first GRAMMY nomination in their career. ("Dancing Queen," however, was inducted into the Recording Academy's Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015.) 

Considering that the group's Agnetha Fältskog has suggested that this album (and forthcoming tour) might be their last, there will likely be many fans glued to their TV to find out if ABBA get to call themselves GRAMMY winners.

Jon Batiste — "FREEDOM"

In an era where more and more artists are advocating acceptance, New Orleans musician Jon Batiste brought a big-band flair to an important message. 

Backed by jazzy instrumentation and a snappy beat, "FREEDOM" is an anthem for simply feeling good and feeling free. "Free to live (How I wanna live)/ I'm gon' get (What I'm gonna get)/ 'Cause it's my freedom," Batiste proclaims in the chorus.

The three-time GRAMMY nominee encapsulated the culture and energy of his hometown in three uplifting minutes, his soulful and impassioned voice bringing listeners on a joyful journey of celebrating themselves.

Ultimately, "FREEDOM" is lyrically and melodically what today's sociopolitical climate needs.

Read More: Jon Batiste Talks New Album We Are, His Brain-Breaking Itinerary & Achieving "Freedom" From Genre

Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga — "I Get a Kick Out Of You"

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Who would've ever thought that a song first sung in 1934 would be nominated for a GRAMMY — let alone the coveted Record of the Year — in 2021? 

Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett made that possible with their take on the classic "I Get a Kick Out of You," the lead single from Love for Sale, the duo's second collaborative album of jazz standards by composer Cole Porter. 

Their adoring, decade-long friendship is apparent on the lively track, which builds from a mellow piano beginning into full jazz and swing orchestration by the song's end.

Between the two of them, Gaga and Bennett have 30 GRAMMYs (12 and 18, respectively). Yet, taking home Record of the Year would mark a special moment for the pair, as Gaga has never won the award and Bennett's last ROTY win was in 1963. 

What's more, Love for Sale is said to be Bennett's last album, as the 95-year-old was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016, just before he and Gaga began recording the LP.

Take A Look Back: For The Record: The Liberating Joy Of Lady Gaga's Born This Way At 10

Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon — "Peaches"

Just one year after Justin Bieber released his R&B-tinged LP, Changes, he unveiled what would become his biggest R&B hit to date, "Peaches." 

The suave track, which features R&B stars Daniel Caesar and Giveon, incorporates swirling production and a wavy melody, creating a perfect soundtrack for a windows-down cruise. 

The fifth single from Bieber's sixth studio album, Justice, "Peaches" has been highly praised as an album standout. The stats prove it: With nearly 1 billion streams on Spotify alone, the song gave Bieber his eighth Hot 100 No. 1 (and his only No. 1 from Justice). 

But the achievement that may be Bieber's proudest is notching a No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, a feat he couldn't quite manage with last year's GRAMMY-nominated "Yummy." 

It also marks his first Record of the Year nomination as the lead artist (he received a nod for his role on Luis Fonsiand Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" in 2017), making "Peaches" a true career highlight for the Biebs.

Brandi Carlile — "Right On Time"

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Another timely tune, Brandi Carlile's "Right On Time" is a commentary on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting on conflict and regret. 

The piano-laced ballad put Carlile's powerful vocals at the forefront, particularly on the dynamic chorus that's reminiscent of the singer's previous ROTY nominee, 2017's "The Joke." Perhaps that's because Carlile herself has said she believes in "Right On Time" as much as she did "The Joke," something she has been waiting to feel for years.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the singer/songwriter expounded on the song's meaning: "There's something really human about the obstacles that we've put in front of ourselves, and then deciding to just somehow explode through it and say, maybe I didn't come out of this right, maybe I didn't handle this the right way, maybe it wasn't right, but something had to happen — so it was right on time."

GRAMMY Flashback: Backstage At The 63rd GRAMMYs: Brandi Carlile Praises The "Artistic Threads That Chain Us All Together" Ahead Of Music’s Biggest Night

Doja Cat feat. SZA — "Kiss Me More"

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If the hook of "Kiss Me More" sounds familiar, try listening to Olivia Newton-John's 1981 hit "Physical." 

Doja Cat and SZA's bouncy collab brilliantly interpolates the single, but swelling production and a punchy beat make "Kiss Me More" anything but a cheap ripoff. The lead single from Doja Cat's highly acclaimed third album Planet Her, the track spotlights the star's prowess as both a singer and a rapper, bringing in SZA for a flawless match-up of female power.

The song's rolling melody made it an instant radio hit (and, in turn, inescapable), earning Doja Cat her second No. 1 at pop radio and SZA her first. 

It reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it became the longest-running all-female top 10 hit in the chart's history, surpassing Brandy and Monica's GRAMMY-winning 1998 duet "The Boy Is Mine." 

Billie Eilish — "Happier Than Ever"

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After two back-to-back Record of the Year wins, Billie Eilish strikes again with "Happier Than Ever." 

The five-minute track is essentially two songs in one: The first half focuses on Eilish's softer register as she begins to tear into everything that was wrong in a past relationship ("When I'm away from you/ I'm happier than ever," she declares in the chorus); the second part elevates into a gritty guitar-driven, cathartic tell-off as Eilish demands at the song's finish, "Just f–kin leave me alone."

Eilish calls "Happier Than Ever," the titular track from her sophomore album, "probably the most therapeutic song I've ever written or recorded, like ever, ever, ever, 'cause I just screamed my lungs out," according to Genius.

But like much of Eilish's catalog, she presents that therapy session with a captivating melodic ride that keeps listeners hanging on with every word.

It's an amalgamation of everything Eilish has brought to the table in her whirlwind career thus far: haunting vocals, raw lyrics and a mosh-pit-worthy finale.

Lil Nas X — "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)"

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It's hard to imagine that Lil Nas X could make a song more ubiquitous than 2019's "Old Town Road," but he put a solid player in the ring with "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)." 

The track became the talk of the industry upon the release of its controversial video, which featured raunchy scenes with the devil himself (yes, you read that right).

But beyond the shock factor, "MONTERO" played an important role in Lil Nas X's career, as it was his first official single to address his sexuality since he publicly came out as gay in 2019 ("C7osure [You Like]" from his debut EP, 7,touched on it, but was not released as a single). 

It also ushered in a new sound for the rapper, leaning more into hip-hop and trap and eliminating any country influence he brought with his first project.

The pivot worked: "MONTERO" debuted atop the Hot 100, earning Lil Nas X his second No. 1. The song has more than 1 billion streams on Spotify — and though that's only half of the stream count for "Old Town Road," "MONTERO" ultimately proved that Lil Nas was no one-hit wonder.

"driver's license" — Olivia Rodrigo

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Whether you're 16 or 65, Olivia Rodrigo tugged at your heartstrings this year with her anthemic power ballad of teenage heartbreak, "driver's license." 

The piano-driven smash first gained traction when Rodrigo teased a snippet on social media last year, resulting in an almost unbelievable debut for the then 17-year-old upon its January release. 

The song broke the Spotify record for the most single-day streams for a non-holiday song, subsequently debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for eight consecutive weeks — earning Rodrigo the title of the youngest artist to debut atop the chart as well as the longest-running number-one debut.

Starting off with an apropos car engine start (a sound that seamlessly flows into the song's plinking piano), "driver's license" allows Rodrigo's tender voice to shine before she lets out howls of heartbreak on the chorus. 

The narrative becomes a full-on sing-along at the song's climax, a bridge you can't help but belt out. 

With so many layers and infectious hooks, the single became such a phenomenon that it even got its own sketch on "Saturday Night Live." Therein, one character summed it up perfectly: "If Olivia taught us anything, it's that pain can be creatively generative."

"Leave the Door Open" — Silk Sonic

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A week after Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak announced that they were joining forces for a superduo back in February, the pair — together, named Silk Sonic — released their first single, "Leave the Door Open." 

And it did not disappoint: The sensual track calls back to the '70s funk and soul music that inspires both singers (after all, Bootsy Collins did bestow them their name), with twinkling instrumentation and a finger-snapping beat that immediately gets you tapping your toes. 

The tune showcases each of their vocal specialties in masterful form, also incorporating their knack for lyrics as smooth as they are cheeky (for one, "And if you're hungry, girl, I got filets"). 

While Mars is no stranger to No. 1s, "Leave the Door Open" gave Anderson his first No. 1 on the Hot 100, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and Rhythmic Airplay. 

If the song takes home Record of the Year, it'll be the four-time GRAMMY winner's first ROTY win, and the 11-time winning Mars' third.

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• 3 Explore The Visual Worlds Of This Year's Best Music Video Nominees | 2022 GRAMMYs
• 4 Meet This Year’s Song Of The Year Nominees | 2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show
• 5 Meet This Year's Record Of The Year Nominees | 2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show

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With His Major Label Debut, Can Daniel Caesar Reinvigorate R&B?

The artist is making the major-label leap with his new album NEVER ENOUGH — while doubling down on R&B innovation.

By Neena Rouhani

Neena Rouhani

R&B/Hip-Hop Reporter

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Daniel Caesar holds himself to a predictable and impossible standard: “perfection,” he says. 

It explains the title of his upcoming third album, NEVER ENOUGH (out April 7), which is the Toronto native’s first release since signing with Republic Records two years ago. It will also usher in a new, more alternative sonic chapter for the 27-year-old singer-songwriter. “If I was a punk artist, then I would want to be something else,” he says. “It’s really just not wanting to be boxed into anything.” 

Canadian Artist Daniel Caesar Signs Deal With Republic Records, Talks New Album

Caesar veered close to perfection in the early days of his rise, entering the industry with his 2017 debut, Freudian , which positioned him as R&B’s burgeoning golden child from north of the border. Freudian landed two singles on the Billboard Hot 100 : “Get You,” featuring Kali Uchis and “Best Part,” alongside H.E.R. The latter — one of three Adult R&B Airplay chart-toppers for Caesar — earned him a Grammy Award for best R&B performance (“I crossed that off much sooner in my life than I ever thought I would,” he says of the win). 

Trending on Billboard

But Freudian ’s follow-up, 2019’s Case Study 01 , struggled to replicate its predecessor’s success after Caesar shared controversial opinions on race relations on Twitter and Instagram Live. During one particular livestream, where he said he was drunk, Caesar questioned why the Black community was being “mean” to white people, saying, “That’s not equality.” 

The subsequent backlash took him by surprise, and Caesar says he underestimated the reach and impact of his opinions. “I understand why it happened. I understood it then as well. I’m just so combative, and I didn’t think that I was wrong,” he admits today. “I was trying to move through the world [according to] how I think it should be and not how it is.” 

“I try to keep my privacy and not to speak too much to the public [out of] fear of being misunderstood,” he explains today. “My best mode of communication is music.” 

Despite the overshadowing controversy, Case Study further cemented Caesar’s avant-garde take on R&B and proved a cohesive, replay-worthy body of work that boasted a No. 1 record on the Adult R&B Airplay chart, the Brandy-assisted “Love Again.” 

Less than a year later, as the pandemic hit, Caesar took refuge at the “middle-of-nowhere” 36-acre farm he had bought his parents, located in a town two hours outside of Toronto. It was there that the Bajan-Jamaican artist began reconciling the last few years of his come-up — and contemplating how to advance his career. 

Like many, Caesar maintained sanity by picking up quarantine hobbies, such as chess and studying Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist . He also went back to work: In 2021, he scored a Hot 100 No. 1 for his feature on Justin Bieber’s smash “Peaches” (alongside Giveon), and last year, he featured on Omar Apollo’s “Invincible.” 

At the same time, he was focused on NEVER ENOUGH . Unlike the star-studded Case Study 01 , Caesar returned to what he knows best: working both independently and with Toronto collaborators like badbadnotgood, Jordan Evans and Matthew Burnett and even his little brother, Zachary Simmonds, who co-wrote and co-produced “Valentina.”  

Caesar’s demeanor is refreshingly self-aware. As he sits at a desk in his sunlight-soaked Manhattan loft, he weaves through the questions that kept him up at night and inspired the 15-track set. “If you dangle enough money in front of me, will I change my belief system? Can a woman make me change my world view? Or the proposition of sex? What do you fold on yourself for?” he asks rhetorically. “I’ve [folded] on myself and it’s hard. Those are the things that I beat myself up over.”  

NEVER ENOUGH centers the introspective bars, soothing blend of woozy guitar and hypnotic harmonies fans have come to expect from Caesar, with hints of cross-genre influences. Phrases like “Do I titillate your mind?” do just that while suspended chords and R&B structure on tracks like “Always” and “Cool” resonate with purist listeners.  

“When people ask me what kind of music I make, I always say R&B. Just to simplify things,” he says, adding that he senses a lack of innovation in the space. Luckily at Republic, Caesar has even more resources to continue expanding the genre space. 

“I was finding it hard at Golden Child to be a record exec and an artist at the same time,” he says. “This was something I needed to do for myself for my development. I was like, ‘If I don’t do it, it’s because I’m scared.’ And I hate living in fear.” 

To reconnect, he met fans where they were: from the favelas of Brazil during Carnival (a country where he realized he has a large listenership) to his newly launched Discord channel (“It’s some Gen Z sh-t for real,” he jokes). He’ll celebrate the album’s release by kicking off his intimate North American and European underplay tour, One Night Only: An Evening With Daniel Caesar, which will begin April 6 in Los Angeles. 

For Caesar, NEVER ENOUGH chronicles his path to becoming his own man while finding a balance between longtime trusted collaborators and welcoming well-established executives into the mix. “I always tell people, ‘I don’t believe in God. I believe in myself and the people around me that I love,’ ” he says. “I believe in our capabilities.”

A version of this story originally appeared in the April 1, 2023, issue of Billboard.

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Daniel Caesar Announces “Almost Enough: The Intimate Sessions” Tour

In celebration of the upcoming release of his highly anticipated new album NEVER ENOUGH on April 7th, today Multi-Platinum, GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Daniel Caesar reveals “Almost Enough: The Intimate Sessions”. The tour will include once-in-a-lifetime shows in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Paris, London, and Berlin next month, where fans can see the critically acclaimed artist perform his new album live in intimate venues that take him back to his roots when he first began his career. See the full list of tour dates below.

Tickets for “Almost Enough: The Intimate Sessions” will go on sale via artist pre-sale on March 23rd at 10AM local time and via general on-sale on March 24th at 10AM local time.

Daniel Caesar’s third studio album NEVER ENOUGH features his recent singles “Let Me Go” and “Do You Like Me?” “Let Me Go” is currently sitting at #25 on the R&B Radio Chart, where it’s a greatest gainer this week. He will return to Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 30th to perform the track live for the very first time—be sure to tune in. Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs on ABC at 11:35/10:35c, and is available next day on Hulu.

Prior to the NEVER ENOUGH album era, Caesar received a 2023 Juno Awards nomination for “Traditional R&B/Soul Recording” for his 2022 single “Please Do Not Lean” feat. Badbadnotgood, and he was enlisted by Lil Yachty to collaborate on his new track “REACH THE SUNSHINE.”

In 2022, Caesar dropped “Please Do Not Lean” feat. Badbadnotgood to widespread praise after a career-defining headline performance at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which drew massive crowds and featured a surprise appearance by Justin Bieber to sing their smash hit “Peaches.” In addition, Caesar took to the 2022 GRAMMY Awards stage alongside Bieber and Giveon to perform the song, after it received four GRAMMY® nominations, two Billboard Music Award nominations, amassed billions of streams, and also landed Caesar his first #1 on the Billboard 100 Chart.

NEVER ENOUGH TRACKLISTING:

1. “Ocho Rios” 2. “Valentina” 3. “Toronto 2014” 4. “Let Me Go” 5. “Do You Like Me?” 6. “Always” 7. “Cool” 8. “Disillusioned” 9. “Buyer’s Remorse” 10. “Shot My Baby” 11. “Pain Is Inevitable” 12. “Homiesexual” 13. “Vince Van Gogh” 14. “Superpowers” 15. “Unstoppable”

“ALMOST ENOUGH: THE INTIMATE SESSIONS” TOUR DATES: April 6th Los Angeles, CA The Belasco April 11th New York, NY Irving Plaza April 13th Toronto, ON HISTORY April 18th Paris, FR Élysée Montmartre April 19th London, UK HERE at Outernet April 22nd Berlin, DE Huxleys Neue Welt

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Daniel Caesar Taps His Inner Producer for Post-‘Peaches’ Return: ‘I’d Been Itching to Do It’

The Canadian artist's new album, "Never Enough," is out today.

By Alex Gonzalez

Alex Gonzalez

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At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as artists went into a panic watching dozens of festival appearances and tours get canceled, R&B singer Daniel Caesar was able to ride the stratospheric success of Justin Bieber ‘s “Peaches,” on which he features alongside Giveon, as the song shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then, he got to work.

Setting up shop in a small town a couple hours outside of Toronto, he spent days writing, crafting beats, and putting together the album that would become “Never Enough.” For this third release, Caesar took on more of the producer role — something he had been wanting to do for years that challenged his typical writing process.

Popular on Variety

The 15 songs are confessional, folkloric and, at points, gut-wrenching as Caesar puts his demons on display. The four-year break between albums well worth the wait.

You began recording “Never Enough “ during the height of COVID. What was that like?

I set up a little studio in my guest house and I spent days at a time in solitude just getting a house feeling. I also started cooking and painting, but mostly making music.

How did your creative process differ from previous releases like “Freudian” and “Case Study 01?”

I produced more. [On earlier projects], I would write the songs on my guitar by myself in my room, and then bring a voice note to the studio. Whereas now, I would go into the studio, and just pick up the guitar and make a chord progression or something. And then the lyrics might come after the melody. So the order in which I would make the songs was different because I was also in charge of recording the actual instruments. I would do that first, because that came easiest, and I didn’t have to think so much. Then, I had to think really deeply about the lyrics.

Was it a challenge stepping into a producer role, or do you feel it came naturally?

Did you find it daunting working with Raphael Saadiq on “Do You Like Me?”

It was, until you’re in there for 15 minutes, and then you’re, like, “Oh, this guy’s as cool as fuck.” He makes you feel comfortable. He’s also full of stories, so if you’re nervous, you can just listen. And you know, he’s only in there because he respects you already, so you can just cook and he’s there.

At what point in the process did the title “Never Enough” come to you?

I’d been saying it a lot. And then one day, like a year or two ago. I was on a boat ranting about something never being enough. Then this other boat just floated by, and it was called Never Enough. That was an interesting name for a boat. I was in the south of France at the time, and I started talking with the people on the boat and found that they were from Toronto. And I was just like, “Oh, that’s so interesting.” Like, I was so far away from home and met a family from Toronto on this boat. It just felt like a synchronicity moment.

The song “Valentina” paints a very vivid picture and tells a relatable story.

That one is honestly my younger brother, Zachary. The chorus part, “Valentina baby,” he wrote and produced that whole beat himself, and he wrote that part himself. So that’s his story about this girl that he had a crush on. He showed me the song, and I was, like, “This is absolutely incredible! I didn’t know that you were so good; I didn’t know that you could do this.” I wrote the verse, and I took the song and dwelled on it. Obviously, we’re cut from the same cloth, so I’ve experienced feelings like that, and I just applied my own life to it.

On “Let Me Go,” the lyric “Ain’t no sleep tonight / My dreams exhaust me” is interesting. How do you cope with anxiety?

So many ways — some good, some bad. I’m a big believer in psilocybin.

I think my personal favorite is “Always,” which tells the story about how a relationship has evolved with both parties separating, but the love is always there. Are you a believer in the idea that time heals all wounds?

I don’t think it eliminates scars, but it heals wounds.

“Best Part” and “Get You” were big streaming hits through playlisting, and ‘Peaches’ went viral on TikTok in 2021. How do you feel about the current landscape of music? Where do you feel like people are discovering your songs?

I would say TikTok. And there’s no use complaining about [the current landscape]. You either adapt or you die.

It’s been almost four years since you released an album. What is the most important thing you’ve learned during your hiatus?

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NEVER ENOUGH

Daniel Caesar’s soul-baring debut, 2017’s Freudian, traced his journey of leaving home, finding love and suffering heartache. On its experimental and existential 2019 follow-up, CASE STUDY 01, the Toronto-born singer-songwriter tried to understand the chaos of the world, confronting ideas of life, death, loneliness and God. He’s shown his gift for taking heavy, complex themes and turning them into introspective songs about love, life and everything in between, and they’re just as present on his third album, NEVER ENOUGH. Where CASE STUDY 01 came from a place of anger, and the uncertainty he felt about his career after making some controversial public comments about race at the time, NEVER ENOUGH finds the Apple Music Up Next alum reflecting on those doubts. “It was really aggressively seeking out truth and trying to learn about myself and about the world in which I live, because I want answers,” Caesar tells Apple Music. “That’s the most important thing to me. I think I’ve been dealing, struggling a lot with my desire to know things versus my desire to be liked.” This internal conflict is a constant through line on NEVER ENOUGH, whether he’s navigating his romantic entanglements (“Valentina”, “Buyer’s Remorse”, “Do You Like Me?”) or the heartache that comes along with them (“Let Me Go”, “Always”). It’s all part of his look inward to find himself. On the acoustic track “Toronto 2014”, Caesar reminisces about the happiness he felt before his new-found fame, and his search to get back to that feeling: “If only I could find a way through space-time/Back to when I was happy being me,” he croons. His desire to express himself artistically while staying relevant is challenged on “Pain Is Inevitable” (“Now I’m a product that must a turn a profit/Something to prove I’m a god, I’m a prophet”). “Every day, I remind myself that it’s exactly what I ask for and what I fought for and what I suffered for,” he says. “And there’s always moments where I feel like I’m the victim of this thing, but at the end of the day, it’s completely within my control, and I can just stop at any point.” He also collaborates with artists like Ty Dolla $ign, serpentwithfeet and Raphael Saadiq, who co-produced “Do You Like Me?”. The idea of feeling “never enough” is his constant struggle: trying to balance confidence and insecurity. He deals with his self-doubts on the haunting piano ballad “Cool”, but quickly reaffirms and builds himself up on “Superpowers”. That’s further cemented on the album closer “Unstoppable”, where Caesar challenges his critics, asking, “And who’s gon’ stop me?/I’m unstoppable.”

7 April 2023 15 Songs, 54 minutes ℗ 2022 Hollace Inc., under exclusive license to Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.

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Never Enough

By Heven Haile

Pop/R&B

April 13, 2023

Life after  Graduation humbled  Kanye West . Struggling with invasive tabloid coverage amid the death of his mother and a broken engagement, he  mused , “Do I still got time to grow?/Things ain’t always set in stone.”  Daniel Caesar would later cover “Street Lights” on one of his early EPs, 2015’s  Pilgrim’s Paradise . Though he was barely 20 when he recorded it, Caesar’s version (retitled “Streetcar”) captured angst beyond his years. He ditched the electro-R&B but retained the emo confessionalism, backing his falsetto with piano, drums, and guitar. It was a preview of the minimal, ethereal tone of his full-length debut, 2017’s  Freudian . The music that followed wasn’t as polished or poetic. “I wanted to free myself from replicating  Freudian ,” Caesar  told interviewer Tom Power in 2020. His new album,  Never Enough , poses the question: What if ChatGPT wrote half of  808s & Heartbreak ?

Traveling far afield from the gospel arrangements and acoustic ballads that defined his debut, Caesar has collaborated with  Justin Bieber ,  T-Pain , and  Free Nationals , picking up pieces of their sounds along the way. He’s erratically experimental on  Never Enough —Auto-Tune, pitched-down vocals, random rap verses,  Frank Ocean -like ad-libs. “Shot My Baby,” a bluesy tale of infidelity turned manslaughter, is the most intriguing departure from his typical autofiction. He’d been working on “a country-bluegrass type album,” he’s  said , but switched directions when longtime producers Jordan Evans and Matthew Burnett weren’t sure what to do with the music. Instead, he lands on woozy psych-R&B that sounds like sleepy karaoke, or else the kind of music you hear in the background of ABC crime-drama trailers.

The album is, in a word, sedated. Many songs open with about 20 seconds of eerily muted or distorted synth. The Slowed + Reverbed midsection of “Ocho Rios” accentuates Caesar’s melancholy and lyrics about prescription pills. “Toronto 2014” romanticizes life before the money and the Grammys. Yet no matter how hoarse or comatose he sounds—“You’re my saving grace… grace… grace”—propulsive drums, divine strings, and gossamer harmonies help to camouflage the weaknesses.

Never Enough leans into the superficially cerebral subject matter of 2019’s  Case Study 01 , which sampled a theoretical physicist and dedicated a song to a brain lobe. That album was about as pseudo-academic as it gets. But if you’ve ever taken a scenic late-night drive, put on  Channel Orange , and were unlucky enough to be accompanied by a suitor hoping to seduce you with Maslow hierarchies and Jordan Peterson quotes,  Never Enough will give you flashbacks. “Do I titillate your mind?” Caesar asks on “Do You Like Me?” (Would you believe me if I told you it was co-written by  Raphael Saadiq ?) Lyrical absurdity peaks on “Vince Van Gogh”: “Used to be ugly, now I’m a handsome Charlie Manson/Wrapped in a Snuggie.” And lest we forget this completely original red-pill observation: “We’re stuck in the Matrix.”

Three standouts, “Always,” “Let Me Go,” and “Valentina,” prove that good old-fashioned love songs and heartbreak ballads remain Caesar’s strong suit. The back half of  Never Enough taps into the bedroom R&B of 2018’s “Who Hurt You?” But in a departure from Caesar’s previous duets with women, all of the features on the main tracklist— Mustafa ,  Omar Apollo ,  serpentwithfeet ,  Ty Dolla $ign —are men. “Homiesexual,” an ode to male toxicity, is the most harmonious. “I never meant to make you cry, my girl,” Ty Dolla professes to a lover who’s already moved on. Since he monopolized the Auto-Tune, Caesar balances the track with lustful vocals: “I-I-I know you like it nasty.” When he’s not over-intellectualizing his emotions, Caesar can be disarmingly raw. If only he didn’t write like a cyborg the rest of the time.

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Daniel Caesar’s ‘Never Enough’: Everything To Know Including The Release Date, Tracklist, And More

With two singles already under his belt, namely “ Let Me Go ” and “ Do You Like Me ,” Daniel Caesar is officially ready for the release of his third studio album. Titled Never Enough , it’s slated to thrust the songwriter back to the forefront of alternative R&B music. Although his last work, Case Study 01 , didn’t have much staying power, the Toronto native is looking to change that with his latest.

Below is everything you need to learn about the album, including its release date, tracklist, features, tour dates, and more.

Release Date

Never Enough is out 4/7 via Republic. For more information, click here .

• “Ocho Rios”
• “Valentina”
• “Toronto 2014”
• “Let Me Go”
• “Do You Like Me?”
• “Always”
• “Cool”
• “Disillusioned”
• “Buyer’s Remorse”
• “Shot My Baby”
• “Pain Is Inevitable”
• “Homiesexual”
• “Vince Van Gogh”
• “Superpowers”
• “Unstoppable”

At this time, it is unclear if the album will contain any guest features. Based on Caesar’s past releases, he may every so often slip in another vocalist into the mix, but for the most part he’s opted to highlight his own unique voice.

Keeping in line with his cryptic nature, the album’s official artwork is a story within itself. What the cover is trying to tell us is not as clear without having listened to the album. However, thanks to Caesar’s latest Instagram caption, which reads, “I’m sensing a theme throughout my album covers,” viewers can guess the image emphasizes the singer’s desire to hide from the public eye. In the grainy blue overcast image, Caeser is seen in full sprint with his back towards the photographer.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqDpvFIMUYp/

Caesar’s past albums — namely, Praise Break in 2014, Pilgrim’s Paradise in 2015, Freudian in 2017, and Case Study 01 in 2019 — all capture the singer in his current state of mind. So, Never Enough , as Caesar shared on Instagram, may do the same.

So far, Caesar has released two singles from the album, “Let Me Go” and “Do You Like Me?” Fans were surprised to find out that his previously released 2022 single, “Horsepower,” did not make the album’s final tracklist.

Caesar hasn’t announced a full tour as of yet. However, beginning in April, he’ll embark on a few spot dates for the Almost Enough: The Intimate Sessions performance stops. Pre-sale for the tour will begin on Thursday, March 23 at 10 am local time. General tickets go on-sale Friday, March 25 at 10 am local. For more information, click here .

04/06 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco 04/11 — New York, NY @ Irving Plaza 04/13 — Toronto, ON @ History 04/18 — Paris, FR @ Elysee Montmartre 04/19 — London, UK @ Here at Outernet 04/22 — Berlin, DE @ Huxleys Neue Welt

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Daniel Caesar Holds a Mirror to Himself on Tender and Thoughtful New LP ‘Never Enough’

In conversation with hypebeast, the new york-based, toronto-born artist dives into the globe-trotting process of creating his brutally honest r&b album..

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From its title alone, Daniel Caesar ’s Never Enough serves as a primer in the multi-sided psyche of his musical persona. On his highly-anticipated third studio album, out today, April 7, the R&B artist eschews some of his previous lyrical themes — sex, drugs and heartbreak — in favor of a surprising self-analysis of his insecurities and shortcomings.

The project isn’t entirely confined to such, as he also drops the occasional desire-laden innuendo. Caesar’s past music has centered on his relationship with the women around him, a concept threaded throughout 2017’s Freudian , which consisted of gospel songs reworked to take on contemporary heartbreak, and 2019’s Case Study 01 , a melodic collection of a sapiosexual’s hedonistic musings. Never Enough may be romantic (or even lustful) at times, but for the most part, the project hinged on the singer’s unsympathetic probing of himself as an artist and a romantic partner. The lead single “Do You Like Me?” addresses his pursuit of a romantic relationship while simultaneously struggling with social anxiety, an experience Caesar candidly revisits once again in the song “Let Me Go,” musing about his anxiety-driven sleeplessness.

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