Miguel has promised fans won’t have a lengthy wait for his next album.
The 40-year-old singer kept fans waiting eight years for the follow-up to 2017’s War and Leisure, with Caos released on October 23.
During the huge gap, the Sure Thing hitmaker lost interest in the business side of the music industry and needed to “step away” from it for a while, but he didn’t stop penning music during that time.
He told GRAMMY.com: “I never lost my love for creating, I lost my love for the business of creating, and everything that comes with it: the scrutiny, the disappointment, the unpredictability. There are so many variables without guarantees. You can look at the data, make the best decisions, and still be left hoping.
“There’s a lot of divine timing in this thing, so much of it is bigger than you; I can’t even put my finger on it. Who would’ve guessed Sure Thing would come back years later and hit number one on pop radio? Who knew radio would stop being the main way people discover music, that blogs would die, that streaming would take over?
“At some point, I lost the drive to put myself out there through my work. It took time to figure out what could make that feel worth it again.”
Asked if he was still actively making music, he said: “Yeah, I love to cook. I’ll never not love to cook.”
Miguel enthused: “There’s still real joy in creating. I never stopped, but it became difficult. I didn’t want to think about it as a “body of work,” or have to figure out a rollout and a narrative people could understand. Then there’s the pressure of needing a song people can dance to, taking the pictures, doing the interviews, answering the same questions, dealing with things being taken out of context, and after all that, getting on stage. I just reached a point where I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep doing all that, so I needed to step away for a while.”
Miguel’s focus is on new music and doing everything he can to help develop “Black, brown and Latino artists”.
Asked if fans will have a long wait for his next full-length release, he replied: “No, I’ve got plenty more. Eight years away didn’t just yield 12 songs.
“We’re starting the tour in February, and I’ve got the next 10 years mapped out. Right now, it’s all about how productive I can be, not just for myself, but for all the left-of-center Black, brown and Latino artists who need development and capital. I want to use my time, energy, network, and resources to invest in their future. That’s what’s next, and I’m excited to wake up every day and do it.
“I was blessed to be an executive producer on a documentary called Papa Melissa, which just debuted at the biggest film festival in Mexico to amazing reviews. It’s about a Mexican family with a father transitioning into a woman, an incredible human story. I want to take on more projects like that, and of course, keep making music.”