Review | Album review: Michael Kiwanuka, London-based guardian of retro soul, shows his vulnerability
British singer’s second album mixes bittersweet folk and confessional soul with gospel
Love & Hate
Interscope/Polydor
Ahh, that difficult second album. The creative challenge to build on the success of that hype-fuelled debut, to truly find your voice and still have something to say. Following up 2012’s Mercury Prize-nominated Home Again was never going to be a walk in the park for London-based soul man Michael Kiwanuka. That fantastic debut drew comparisons to Bill Withers and Terry Callier, and heralded its young creator as a modern-day guardian of retro soul. Grabbing the bull firmly by the horns, the 29-year-old singer-songwriter opens his second record, Love & Hate, with a 10-minute opus, Cold Little Heart, a beautiful cinematic swirl of lush strings, delicate slide guitar and choral tones that shimmers and builds for five minutes before Kiwanuka’s warm vocals join the groove. It’s a brave and stunning way to open an album. Once again mixing bittersweet folk and confessional soul with a little gospel, new producers Inflo and Danger Mouse update Kiwanuka’s vintage sounds with simple keys and handclaps, but it’s the singer’s vulnerability and willingness to bare his soul that allows him to make this giant leap forward.