Album Review: Michael Kiwanuka - 'Kiwanuka'
Modern legend, Michael Kiwanuka, is back with a new album entitled, ‘Kiwanuka’ following on from his number one, ‘Love and Hate’ that saw his tracks becoming huge hits across the world. He went back to the studio with the original production team that worked on his previous album and the results are as spectacular as expected.
The album kicks off with ‘You Ain’t The Problem’, an upbeat track channeling the 80s with various percussion instruments. The high tempo is a surprise for the start of the album but one that leads perfectly into and places extra emphasis on the slower tracks that follow.
The second and third tracks, ‘Rolling’ and ‘I’ve Been Dazed’, flow into each other with a seamless quality despite evoking very different feelings. At the end of ‘I’ve Been Dazed’, Michael is joined by a choir with the line “time is a healer” standing out. It may be bold to say, but this whole album feels somewhat like a grieving process with the lyrics and themes throughout the tracks. Piano Joint (This Kind Of Love) starts with an introduction filled with bass notes and echoes of brass instruments and rhythmic vocals. Gradually morphing into a fully-fledged classic Michael Kiwanuka sound with the subtle bass, piano and relaxed vocals.
Another Human Being provides a gentle interlude featuring talking voices between the tracks and flows into the upbeat brass rhythm of ’Living In Denial’. Already released track, ‘Hero’, has an added introduction that is slow and melancholy, incorporating deeper vocals into a slowed down track. It adds a different emotional depth to the track that was not experienced in the released version. In true Kiwanuka style, ‘Hard To Say Goodbye’, has a long introduction that makes you wonder if this is even an introduction to a track or a really long first verse.
‘Final Days’ touches on new emotions for Kiwanuka with the opening lyric of “lying on the floor, feeling like a dying man”. The track talks about the pressures placed on the artist in his career. Following on from this, the eleventh track is another interlude with more talking voices and classic Kiwanuka sounds that were featured on his ‘Love and Hate album’. The concluding tracks, ‘Solid Ground’ and ‘Light’ encapsulates Kiwanuka’s sound style perfectly and wrap up the album reminding you of how special this artist is.
Works by Max Herridge
UK Headline Dates, 2020:
2nd March – O2 Guildhall, Southampton
3rd March – O2 Academy, Bournemouth
5th March - O2 Academy Brixton, London SOLD OUT
6th March – O2 Academy, Birmingham
7th March – O2 Apollo, Manchester SOLD OUT
9th March – Corn Exchange, Cambridge SOLD OUT
10th March – De Montford Hall, Leicester
12th March – O2 Academy, Leeds
13th March – O2 Academy, Newcastle
14th March – Barrowland, Glasgow SOLD OUT