Kiwanuka | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1 November 2019 | |||
Genre | Psychedelic soul [1] | |||
Length | 51:13 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | ||||
Michael Kiwanuka chronology | ||||
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Singles from Kiwanuka | ||||
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Kiwanuka is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka. It was released on 1 November 2019 through Polydor and Interscope Records. [2] [3] The album won the 2020 Mercury Prize, [4] and was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards.
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 8.5/10 [5] |
Metacritic | 89/100 [6] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chicago Tribune | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Daily Telegraph | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Independent | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
NME | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 7.5/10 [12] |
Q | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
On the review aggregator website Metacritic, Kiwanuka has a score of 89 out of 100 based on 21 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [6] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. [5]
Dave Simpson of The Guardian hailed Kiwanuka as a "bold, expansive, heartfelt, sublime album" and one of the best of the decade, [9] while Dorian Lynskey of Q called it a "compassionate, career-defining masterpiece". In her review for NME , Elizabeth Aubrey highlighted the personal nature of its lyrics, commending it as "a daring leap of self-affirmation." [11] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph described it as "an album in which a troubled spirit seeks the relief of music to mesmerising and charged effect." [15] In a year-end essay for Slate , Ann Powers cited Kiwanuka as proof that the album format is not dead but rather undergoing a "metamorphosis", with artists such as Kiwanuka utilizing the concept album through the culturally-relevant autobiographical narratives, which in this case is a "song cycle alchemizing violence through compassion". [16]
The album won the Mercury Prize 2020. It was the third time in his career he had been nominated following nominations for Home Again and Love & Hate but the first time he had won.
Publication | List | Rank |
---|---|---|
Afisha Daily (Russia) [17] | The Best Foreign Albums of 2019 | 6 |
Albumism [18] | The 50 Best Albums of 2019 | 6 |
AllMusic [19] | Best of 2019 | — |
American Songwriter [20] | Top 25 Albums (and 25 More That We Loved) of 2019 | — |
BBC Radio 6 Music [21] | Albums of the Year 2019 | 3 |
Chicago Tribune [22] | Best rock-pop-rap albums of 2019 | 4 |
Clash [23] | Albums of the Year 2019 | 9 |
Double J [24] | The 50 best albums of 2019 | 16 |
The Economist [25] | The best albums of 2019 | — |
Gigwise [26] | 51 Best Albums of 2019 | 5 |
God Is in the TV [27] | GIITTV Album of the Year Poll Results 2019 | 2 |
Good Morning America [28] | 50 of the best albums of 2019 | 2 |
The Guardian [29] | The 50 best albums of 2019 | 12 |
Houston Chronicle [30] | Andrew Dansby's albums of 2019 | 6 |
The Independent [31] | The 50 best albums of 2019 | 18 |
The Line of Best Fit [32] | The Best Albums of 2019 Ranked | 20 |
Mondo Sonoro (Spain) [33] | The best international albums of 2019 | 7 |
musicOMH [34] | Top 50 Albums Of 2019 | 4 |
The New York Times (Jon Pareles) [35] | Top 50 Albums Of 2019 | 8 |
NME [36] | The 50 best albums of 2019 | 8 |
No Ripcord [37] | The 50 Best Albums of 2019 | 11 |
PopMatters [38] | The 70 Best Albums of 2019 | 18 |
Under the Radar [39] | Top 100 Albums of 2019 | 34 |
All tracks are written by Michael Kiwanuka, Brian Burton, and Dean Josiah Cover
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "You Ain't the Problem" | 4:09 |
2. | "Rolling" | 2:51 |
3. | "I've Been Dazed" | 4:25 |
4. | "Piano Joint (This Kind of Love) (Intro)" | 2:18 |
5. | "Piano Joint (This Kind of Love)" | 3:51 |
6. | "Another Human Being" | 1:51 |
7. | "Living in Denial" | 3:31 |
8. | "Hero (Intro)" | 1:20 |
9. | "Hero" | 3:19 |
10. | "Hard to Say Goodbye" | 7:05 |
11. | "Final Days" | 4:10 |
12. | "Interlude (Loving the People)" | 2:42 |
13. | "Solid Ground" | 3:53 |
14. | "Light" | 5:48 |
Total length: | 51:13 |
Credits adapted from digital and printed liner notes. [40]
Musicians
Technical
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom (BPI) [66] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |