The cover of “RIP,” a recent single off Miguel ’s fifth album, Caos, depicts the Danza de los Diablos, or Dance of the Devils, and the album it comes on finds the singer folding allusions to his Mexican roots into a moody, visceral version of his always-ambitious alternative R&B. Miguel kickstarted his career with his adventurous 2012 debut Kaleidoscope Dream , an LP that mixed rock, soul, and psychedelia into a freewheeling sound he’s been nuancing ever since, often in music that’s taken on a moodier, more anxious tone. As its title suggests, Caos is an album for our times. “Life is cold/Cold is pain/And pain, growth,” he says mater-of-factly against a distressed-sounding choir at the LP’s opening.

The album has a political edge that’s previously been present in his music. “E

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