Daniel Caesar recently returned to the NPR Tiny Desk to perform a set of five songs from his 2025 album, Son of Spergy. Caesar’s last appearance at the Tiny Desk was in 2018, following the release of his debut album, Freudian. That first performance remains in the top 15 most-viewed Tiny Desk concerts on YouTube, and his latest has already passed the one million view mark.
This time around, Caesar was accompanied by an upright piano, a guitar, and a 12-piece choir. While that may sound like a lot of people behind a famously small desk, the performance feels surprisingly intimate. In the words of NPR’s Bobby Carter: “From note number one, I, along with the audience of NPR staffers, was instantly stunned by the power of the choir and how Caesar effortlessly led them… There may have been others in the crowd who felt what I felt: This is one of the most transcendent moments at the Tiny Desk.”
Caesar opened the set with Son of Spergy’s opening track, “Rain Down.” He picked up his guitar to continue with “Emily’s Song,” “Moon,” and “Who Knows,” before taking to the piano himself for album closer “Sins of the Father.” Son of Spergy, released last October, is Caesar’s fourth album, following 2017’s Freudian, 2019’s Case Study 01, and 2023’s Never Enough. Spergy dives deep into Caesar’s relationships with his father and his faith. “It’s about religion,” he told Billboard, “but more importantly, it’s about my father. In your childhood, your father is a lot like God. He’s the person you fear the most on earth and also the person whose love and respect you desire more than anyone else on earth.”
The record features collaborations with Sampha, Bon Iver, and Blood Orange among others. Caesar’s father, nicknamed Spergy, also features on the album, adding vocals to the track “Baby Blue.”
