The Weeknd has a rival for the crown of “the new Michael Jackson”. On his fourth album, R&B man Miguel’s versatility and sureness of touch recall that of Jackson in his pomp – or, as the track Sky Walker (featuring Travis Scott) has it, he’s “Top Gun, on my Tom Cruise”. The 80s are writ large on War & Leisure, which cribs its musical ambition and expansiveness from that era’s pop, rock and soul. Our troubled times are never far away though, as the Grammy-winner newly into transcendental meditation swaps his raunchy default for loftier themes. Pineapple Skies is the most obvious soaraway, feelgood hit, but very little on War & Leisure falls flat.
