nonchalant savant

By Katie Moulton Miguel wants you to know that there’s a war on love and that it’s time to take up arms. The singer-songwriter makes R&B that’s enlightened — both sexually and otherwise — and his albums Kaleidoscope Dream and Wildheart take their sweet time with listeners, leaving room for play, atmosphere and experimentation. On his latest release, War & Leisure, the Grammy winner has fortified both his political messaging and his pop hooks. On songs like “Come Through and Chill,” “Told You So” and “Pineapple Skies,” Miguel still aims to fulfill his partner’s needs — for a smoke break, seduction, psychic care — and pleasure is seized despite, and in resistance to, an unjust world.