Miguel returns with ‘CAOS’ : NPR

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Miguel Pimentel, the global superstar who performs as Miguel, is back today with his fifth studio album. The Los Angeles-born artist has been beloved by NPR Music for a very long time. He played a Tiny Desk concert back in 2012, and his new album is called “CAOS.”

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “COMMA / KARMA”)

MIGUEL: (Singing) Cotton candy and a Uzi. Send a prayer to the sky ’cause you and I were born to fly. Oh, my, my, my. Hit me when you want to hide out. Yeah.

CHANG: Ayana Contreras of member station KUVO in Denver has been listening to “CAOS” and joins us now. Hey, Ayana.

AYANA CONTRERAS, BYLINE: How you doing?

CHANG: Good. OK, so, like, it’s been almost a decade – right? – since Miguel released his last album. What’s happened in his life since then?

CONTRERAS: Of course, like so many of us, he weathered the pandemic but also ended a long-term relationship. But on the bright side, he found a new partner, and they had a baby last year.

CHANG: Oh.

CONTRERAS: In fact, the track “Angel’s Song” is dedicated to his young son.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ANGEL’S SONG”)

MIGUEL MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) But I can just enjoy the view. Yeah, just enjoy the view. I forget the world’s unraveling when I’m looking at you.

CHANG: Oh, I love that. That’s so sweet. Well, Miguel’s mom, I understand, is a Black woman from LA. His dad is Mexican. And I noticed that the title of this album “CAOS” – it’s spelled C-A-O-S, which is the way you spell the word chaos in Spanish. Can you talk about that choice? Like, how does Miguel bring the Mexican part of his heritage into this music?

CONTRERAS: Right. This seems to be kind of an evolution for him. So many of the flavors he’s pulling from relate to that background. “El Pleito,” for instance, specifically deals with immigration, but many of the tracks are concerned with feeling lost, losing self, needing to find a way to belong.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “EL PLEITO”)

MIGUEL MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing in Spanish).

CONTRERAS: Many of the titles, by the way, and lyrics are in Spanish, as well.

CHANG: So he’s thinking a lot about his identity in this album. But let me ask you – because Miguel – he became known for, like, sexy R&B. Like, how does what he’s doing on “CAOS” fit into that? How is his sound evolving?

CONTRERAS: Right, yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, the album opens with the title track, which is an 808-laced, big-bottomed bolero, which – I mean, of course, boleros are sexy, right?

CHANG: Yeah.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CAOS”)

MIGUEL MUSICAL ARTIST: (Vocalizing)

(Singing) I think I’m better under pressure.

CONTRERAS: Overall, the sound is gorgeous and dark and spacey, smoky and, as I mentioned, multilingual. I kind of call it lost desert highway music.

CHANG: (Laughter) That’s good.

CONTRERAS: And “Oscillate” meets between vibey, sexy R&B and kind of like a retrofuturistic otherworldly sound.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “OSCILLATE”)

MIGUEL MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) Oscillate, oscillate, oscillate.

CHANG: God, that is so good. That’s such a vibe. Do you have a favorite song on this album?

CONTRERAS: Honestly, I think I would have to go with “CAOS,” the title track. After all, I love a good bolero.

CHANG: Oh, I do, too.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CAOS”)

MIGUEL MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing in Spanish).

CHANG: That is Ayana Contreras from KUVO in Denver. You can hear more from Ayana on today’s New Music Friday podcast from NPR Music. Miguel’s new album, “CAOS,” is out now. Thank you so much, Ayana.

CONTRERAS: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CAOS”)

MIGUEL MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing in Spanish).

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