CASE STUDY 01

It's a solid effort by an artist who is, more or less, still a rookie, attempting to diversify his sound early on in order to avoid cementing himself into gospel music for the entirety of his career.

While there are flashes of wisdom on Case Study 01, there are also a handful of clunky moments when Caesar’s out of his depth.

Case Study has gorgeous moments, but it lacks the overall clarity and focus of Freudian; it is muddled from the very beginning.

One of Freudian's biggest strengths is the way it creates a vibe and keeps it up throughout. That carries through here to an extent, but the album feels less cohesive as he stretches out.

Canadian artist Daniel Caesar sounds conflicted and unconvincing on the follow-up to his acclaimed 2017 debut

There’s nothing truly terrible here, but – beyond Brandy rolling back the years – there’s nothing that will make you reach for the replay button either.

Case Study 01 sounds much less polished and labored over than Freudian—perhaps in an attempt to catch lightning in a bottle—but, more often than not, the results are less than electric.