Kiwanuka (album)

Last updated

Kiwanuka
Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka.png
Studio album by
Released1 November 2019 (2019-11-01)
Genre Psychedelic soul [1]
Length51:13
Label
Producer
Michael Kiwanuka chronology
Love & Hate
(2016)
Kiwanuka
(2019)
Small Changes
(2024)
Singles from Kiwanuka
  1. "You Ain't the Problem"
    Released: 13 August 2019
  2. "Hero"
    Released: 10 October 2019
  3. "Piano Joint (This Kind of Love)"
    Released: 16 October 2019
  4. "Light"
    Released: 19 June 2020
  5. "Rolling"
    Released: 2020

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.

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.5/10 [5]
Metacritic 89/100 [6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Chicago Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [7]
The Daily Telegraph Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [8]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [9]
The Independent Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
NME Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [11]
Pitchfork 7.5/10 [12]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [13]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [14]

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.

Accolades

Accolades for Kiwanuka
PublicationListRank
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

Track listing

All tracks are written by Michael Kiwanuka, Brian Burton, and Dean Josiah Cover

Kiwanuka track listing
No.TitleLength
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

Personnel

Credits adapted from digital and printed liner notes. [40]

Musicians

  • Natalia Bonner – violin (1, 3, 5, 9)
  • Zara Benyounes – violin (1, 5, 9, 13)
  • Sally Jackson, Patrick Kiernan, Steve Morris – violin (3, 5, 10, 11, 14)
  • Anna Croad – violin (3, 10)
  • Stephanie Cavey – violin (3)
  • Deborah Widdup – violin (5, 10, 11, 14)
  • Eleanor Mathieson – violin (5, 10)
  • Gillon Cameron, Helen Hathorn, Hayley Pomfrett, Kotono Sato, Ellie Stanford – violin (5, 11, 14)
  • Jenny Sacha – violin (10, 13)
  • Sarah Sexton – violin (10)
  • Nick Barr – viola (1, 5, 8, 11, 13, 14)
  • Bruce White – viola (3)
  • Fiona Leggat, Emma Owens – viola (5, 10, 11, 14)
  • Rosie Danvers – cello (1, 3, 8, 11, 14), string arrangements (1, 3, 5, 6, 8–11, 13, 14)
  • Bryony James – cello (5, 11, 14)
  • Richard Pryce – double bass (5, 11, 14)

Technical

Charts

Certifications

Kiwanuka sales certifications
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [66] Gold100,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  2. 1 2 Bernstein, Jonathan (24 October 2019). "Michael Kiwanuka's Self-Titled Third Album is a Rich Psych-Soul Exploration". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 25 October 2019.
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  6. 1 2 "Kiwanuka by Michael Kiwanuka Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic . Retrieved 13 November 2019.
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