Better known for his sensuous, candlelit grooves and touring with Trey Songz and Usher, LA-based R&B singer-songwriter-producer Miguel trades the carnal for the spiritual on “Candles In the Sun” from Kaleidoscope Dreams, his Grammy-nominated sophomore offering.

The artfully-shot video features striking black-and-white images of gun and drug paraphernalia, religious iconography, patriotic symbolism, stylized police violence, homeless people sleeping by graffiti, young black men in handcuffs and children in gas masks, set to a stark synth beat and the trench coat-clad crooner’s tortured facial expressions and passionate neo-soul vocals.

Miguel’s preaching on social justice, racial equality, pantheism, and world peace is a bit heavy-handed, but he manages to evade force-feeding by sheer power of his earnest and commitment to his art, and it helps solidify his berth alongside Frank Ocean and The Weeknd in new wave R&B’s eclectic roster of breakout stars. Watch the video above.

Miguel’s Kaleidoscope Dreams is available now on RCA.