''Never Enough'' (stylized in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

) is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter

Daniel Caesar Ashton Simmonds (born April 5, 1995), known professionally as Daniel Caesar, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After independently building a following through the release of two EPs, ''Praise Break'' (2014) and ''Pilgrim's Paradise'' (2015) ...

. It was released through

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

on April 7, 2023, two days after his 28th birthday. Production was handled by Caesar himself, Zachary Simmonds (his younger brother), Sir Dylan,

Sevn Thomas Rupert "Sevn" Thomas Jr. (born July 7, 1991) is a Canadian record producer, songwriter and singer. He has produced and written numerous hit songs including Rihanna's "Work", Drake's " Pop Style" and " Chicago Freestyle," Travis Scott's " Wake Up ...

, Rami, and

Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to prominence as a vocalist and bassist for the R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, which he formed with h ...

Background and recording

On February 8, 2022, in an interview with '' Complex Canada'' of his home country, Caesar said that he recorded the album mostly by himself after quarantine for the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Three days later, in an interview with ''

Hypebeast Hypebeast may refer to: * Hypebeast culture, a contemporary youth culture focused on clothing styles *Hypebeast (company) Hypebeast is a Hong Kong–listed company that focuses on contemporary culture and lifestyle. It was originally founded in 2 ...

'', he stated that he was tapping into different influences aside from his traditional style of R&B music for his next album. On April 12, 2022, it was announced that Caesar had signed with

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

and he was interviewed by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', in which he shared that the album would be less focused on R&B and include influences that he was earlier inspired by, such as

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

. On March 21, 2023, Caesar announced the title of its album and shared its cover art, tracklist, and release date.

Singles and promotion

The lead single of the album, " Do You Like Me?", was released on January 27, 2023. The second single, "Let Me Go", was released on February 10, 2023. On February 28, 2023, Caesar announced the title of the album via now-deleted social media posts. On March 21, 2023, he shared its release date, cover art, and tracklist. On March 31, 2023, the third single, "Valentina", was released. On April 4, 2023, he released "Unstoppable", the fourth and final single before the album.

Critical reception

Ben Okazawa of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' concludes his review by describing the album as "a cohesive display of genre experimentation that cements Caesar's place as one of the smartest and most talented artists in today's constantly mutating R&B pantheon." Andy Kellman's review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described the album as "open, messy, and fascinating." ''Clash'''s Grace Dodd called the album "a warm, intimate masterclass in contemporary R&B." Heven Haile of ''Pitchfork'' described the album as "sleepy nderratically experimental." Writing for ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

'', Louis Pavlakos concludes by stating that the album "marks a redemption arc for a flawed man with equally flawed views to make a case at proving he's matured." The album was shortlisted for the

2023 Polaris Music Prize The 2023 edition of the Canada, Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 19, 2023. The winner was electronic musician Debby Friday for her album ''Good Luck (Debby Friday album), Good Luck''. The longlist was announced on June 13, ...

, and won the

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for Contemporary R&B/Soul Recording of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 2024 The Juno Awards of 2024 were held on 24 March 2024, at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to honour achievements in Canadian music in 2023. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year determine ...

."Junos 2024: full list of winners"

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

, March 23, 2024.

Track listing

Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies an uncredited co-producer

Personnel

Production and music *

– vocals (1–15); bass (3, 4, 6, 8, 10–15); guitar (3, 4, 8, 10, 12–15); synth bass (3, 6, 8, 10); synthesizer programming (4, 10, 12–15); drums (11, 12, 14, 15) * Axel Benamar – programming (13) *

BadBadNotGood BadBadNotGood (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian instrumental band and Hip hop production, production team from Toronto, Canada. The group was founded in 2010 by bassist Chester Hansen, keyboardist Matthew Tavares, and drummer Alexander Sowinsk ...

** Chester Hansen – bass (1) **

Alexander Sowinski Alexander William Sowinski (born October 11, 1991) is a Canadian musician, producer, and drummer for instrumental group BADBADNOTGOOD. With the band, he has released five studio albums and is noted for his jazz drumming musicianship. Life and c ...

– drums (1) **

Leland Whitty BadBadNotGood (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian instrumental band and production team from Toronto, Canada. The group was founded in 2010 by bassist Chester Hansen, keyboardist Matthew Tavares, and drummer Alexander Sowinski. In 2016, the ...

– guitar, synth bass (1) *

Chronixx Jamar Rolando McNaughton (born 10 October 1992), popularly known as Chronixx, is a Jamaican reggae artist. His stage name replaced the name "Little Chronicle" which he was given because of his father, the singer "Chronicle".Jackson, Kevin (2014 ...

– vocals (15) * Daniel Migdal – strings (7, 11) *

DannyBoyStyles Danny Schofield, known professionally as DannyBoyStyles (and previously known as Styles), is an American Grammy award-winning record producer, engineer, songwriter, and composer. He produced all ten tracks on the Weeknd's album ''Kiss Land'' and ...

– guitar (6) * Dylan Wiggins – programming (1, 2, 3, 8, 10–15); synthesizer programming (5) *

Emile Haynie Emile Haynie (born July 13, 1980), often credited simply as Emile, is an American record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, his range of production includes alternative rock, hip hop, indie and pop music. Haynie has worked with seve ...

– drum programming (11) * Joel Compass – programming (14) * Jordan Evans – programming (12) * Justin Lucas – guitar (6) *

Justine Skye Justine Indira Skyers (born August 24, 1995), known professionally as Justine Skye, is an American R&B singer-songwriter and actress. Her initial fame from Tumblr found a career in the music industry and signed with Atlantic Records at the age o ...

– background vocals (10) *

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

– programming (11) * Matthew Burnett – bass (7); drums, programming, synthesizer programming (12) *

Rami Yacoub Rami Yacoub (born 17 January 1975), also known by the mononym Rami, is a Palestinian-Swedish record producer and songwriter and former member of the songwriting/production houses Cheiron Studios and Maratone. Yacoub collaborated extensively wi ...

– programming (4) *

Sabrina Claudio Sabrina Claudio (born September 19, 1996) is an American singer and songwriter. In late 2016, Claudio uploaded several songs to SoundCloud, before compiling a select collection as part of her debut extended play, ''Confidently Lost'', which was ...

– background vocals (15) *

Serpentwithfeet Jonathan Josiah Wise (born July 9, 1988), known professionally as serpentwithfeet, is an R&B singer based in Brooklyn, New York City. Wise signed with the English record label Tri Angle (record label), Tri Angle to release his debut extended pl ...

– background vocals (8) *

– drum programming (4) * Simon Hessman – guitar (3) *

Sir Nolan Nolan Lambroza (born July 25, 1990), better known as Sir Nolan, is an American record producer and songwriter based in Encino, Los Angeles, California. He has worked with notable artists such as Daniel Caesar, Tyla, Selena Gomez, Justin Biebe ...

– programming, guitar, synth bass (6) * Zachary Simmonds – programming (2) Technical * Dylan Wiggins – engineer (2, 10) * Félix Remy – engineer (7) * Jake Ferguson – engineer (11) * Jens Jungkurth – engineer (11) * Migui Maloles – engineer (1, 2, 3, 8, 10, 11, 15) * Riley Bell – engineer (7, 14) *

– engineer (6) *

Tom Elmhirst Tom Elmhirst (born 8 June 1971) is a British mix engineer. He has worked with artists including Adele, Beck, David Bowie, Cage the Elephant, Lady Gaga, Residente, and Amy Winehouse, among many others. Elmhirst has received numerous accolades ...

– mixer (1–15); engineer (12)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2023 albums Albums produced by Rami Yacoub Daniel Caesar albums Republic Records albums Juno Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year recordings