Miguel
released his first four albums within a span shorter than the interval between his fourth and fifth, but intermittent singles and EPs, soundtrack contributions, and featured appearances ensured that the singer never seemed distant after 2017's
War & Leisure
. He also saw "Sure Thing," a Top 40 hit for him in 2011, nearly crack the Top Ten in 2023, after it went viral through TikTok.
Caos
, his first album in eight years, is packed with the type of carnal slow jams -- freaky wordplay and pining vocals, sludgy rhythms, scorched guitars, liberal reverb, etc. -- that can be traced back to the debut's "Teach Me." A new station in life is indicated in the section of "Angel's Song" where
sings to his daughter, and in "Nearsight [SID]" when he laments that "I want to rage like I used to, but I never have time." Moreover, the urgent and resolute Spanish verses that start the album feel like an act of resistance in 2025. Still,
is mostly familiar sounding with its high percentage of crepuscular ballads. A couple numbers further show that acid rock and psychedelic soul can mingle with trap-styled production. There's much more menace than before, most explicitly so on "The Killing," "Triggered," and "Perderme," sadomasochistic fantasies in which
sounds not just aroused but also pent up, itching to "rage" or "rip," as he puts it in a few additional songs. Perhaps it's an effect of the "governments playing Hunger Games" and other fraught modern conditions to which he alludes. "New Martyrs (Ride 4 U)" even paints a Bonnie and Clyde or Robin Hood scenario where
reasons that "The love can't be silent when the system isn't equal." This is less about hooks and more about mood. The mood is heavy and only begins to lift in the
George Clinton
-assisted finale. Even in the dark moments,
's voice remains a marvel. ~ Andy Kellman