I'm so happy that Miguel is back

You should be too. This week's Sunday Stream.

Oct 12, 2025

About 13 years ago, a singer and songwriter from San Pedro, California named Miguel seemed to reinvigorate radio-friendly R&B in one fell swoop with a very special album, Kaleidoscope Dream. Until then, he had been an artist kicking around the music industry for a decade or so, struggling to find his place within it, trying on different sounds and styles; in the 2000s, he attempted crunk R&B in the vein of Usher, but it wasn’t very good.

Slowly but surely, he found his footing, taking a soulful and poppy sensibility and infusing it with lush and louche psychedelic vibes. Kaleidoscope Dream, released in 2012, is a dreamy, trippy, and — most of all — refreshing ride through nostalgic but still new-sounding soul. It’s filled with sweetly sensual songs, including a pean to love and drugs called “Do You…” that sounds as fun now as it did then. Miguel’s peak — commercially if not creatively — was a song called “Adorn,” a majestically beautiful gem of wedding-ready pop-R&B. It will truly always have a soft spot in my heart.

Now, he’s back, and sounding more far-out than ever — in a good way. He has an album CAOS coming in late October, and each song feels like an unexpected surprise. They’re all great and kinda distinctive and unusual. “El Pleito” is a sweet Spanglish folk-pop lullaby, “Always Time” is a moody alt rock ballad, and the latest single might be my favorite yet. “RIP” opens as a skeletal, almost avant-garde sketch, but about a third of the way through, he slices the song in half, then pipes in some really good house shit.

For some reason, it feels like people aren’t paying as much attention to Miguel’s return as they did his initial rise — and I’m not sure “RIP” will fix that. It isn’t designed to be the kind of instant, culture-shaking single that rockets to the top overnight. Still, that’s kinda what makes it ingenuous — it’s a shot in the dark. Give it a listen.