Miguel, Always Time | Song Review 🎵

Grammy-winning R&B singer/songwriter Miguel is authentic, honest, and reflective on the gorgeous ballad, “Always Time.”

“Broken glass, piercing words / It change so fast, yeah, it hurts.” From the beginning of “Always Time” Grammy-winning R&B singer/songwriter Miguel (Miguel Pimentel) ‘keeps it real.’ He is authentic, honest, transparent, and vulnerable. He continues singing in the first verse, “Rocky past, lessons learned / Don’t say it’s too late, I thought there was always time.” “Always Time” runs a respectable length, clocking in under three-and-a-half minutes.  Pimentel produced the reflective song alongside Jeff Bhasker, David Andrew Sitek, Ray Brady, and Jerry Duplessis.

The second verse is similar to the first, finding Miguel reflective of his experiences. He doesn’t go into details but sings with incredible expression and nuance – you can ‘read between the lines.’ In the chorus, the centerpiece, he sings, “When you love this hard / And you fight this hard / But it’s still not enough / Maybe this time love means / Letting go, letting go, letting go.” Perhaps, Miguel, perhaps.  In addition to a strong vocal performance – his upper register is gorgeous, while the vocal effects are cool – and personal lyrics, the musical accompaniment is another selling point. It consists primarily of guitar and programming (strings), with percussion arriving in the final seconds. While “Always Time” doesn’t scream ‘pop,’ it finds Pimentel sounding as fresh as he did when he entered the game years back. I’m excited to hear what a new Miguel album will sound like – it’s been far too long! 

Miguel // “Always Time” // ByStorm Entertainment / RCA // 11.22.24

Miguel, Always Time [📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; ByStorm Entertainment / RCA; OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]