The second single from this much awaited album, ‘Hero’, is both a tribute to the Black Power/Black Panther movements and (according to the artist himself), a paean to those who have died young whether as a result of oppression, or as the romantic notion goes, them being just too darn talented/beautiful/troubled for this world. The rousing chorus works as both a statement of intent and a kind of rhetorical question (‘Am I a hero now?’) hanging over this record and more broadly over the career of Kiwanuka, now 32. The artist has spoken publicly of battling demons of self-doubt and depression in the past and on this his third album we get the sense of him coming to terms with his maturity and making a concerted attempt to look outwards and confront contemporary issues. He does this, albeit intermittently, obliquely and at times rather hesitantly.
After an ominous intro with vinyl crackle and Kiwanuka’s voice slowed to the point making him sound a bit like Nina Simone, ‘Hero’ breaks into a purposeful stride, all rolling drums and rousing confident vocals. The chord progression and mood are highly reminiscent of the iconic Hendrix version of ‘All Along The Watchtower’. After grabbing your attention thus, it’s disappointing that neither the melody nor lyrics really develop from that strong initial platform and ‘Hero’ plays out into a fairly standard distorted guitar jam replete with aimless repetition of the main chorus. Despite its admirable ambition the song ultimately feels a bit stilted and half-formed.
While ‘Hero’ is clearly intended as the centre-piece, it is the two songs bookending it, ‘Living in Denial’ and ‘Hard to Say Goodbye’ which give the best indication of the overall atmosphere of this record. Here we have 70’s California soul tropes- dreamy la-la-la-la-la backing vocals, high-end fuzz guitar, and bouncy bass lines that wouldn’t be out of place on the soundtrack to Jackie Brown.
Like that movie, it all feels very nostalgia-driven, also akin in some respect to the vaporwave genre’s adoption of synth sounds from the 80’s. The downbeat vocal and highly personal lyrics add to the uncertain, almost uncanny tone and at one point Kiwanuka even sings “talk about living in the past/don’t apologise”. Elsewhere, ‘Rolling’ is another, albeit more upbeat, exercise in homage- a jaunty foray into 60’s psychedelia that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Brian Jonestown Massacre album.
As with Bill Withers with whom he has often been compared, there’s a kind of lethargy built into Kiwanuka’s natural singing voice which can be worked to devastating effect when he growls against it as on his previous hit ‘Cold Little Heart’. Here he takes a similar stylistic approach on ‘Final Days’, a meditation on impending planetary doom. He also imbues the vocal with some nice falsetto touches and the song is a real highlight- expertly crafted, with a driving beat, deft piano & guitar and unobtrusive orchestral colourings. Considering its theme, the track comes to an appropriately abrupt close, mid-jam. Another bright spot is ‘Piano Joint (This kind of love)’, a lovely mid-tempo piano ballad with the vocal again sounding assured and the production spot on.
Elsewhere, where the melodic lines tend towards repetition, the vocals instead contribute to an overall sense of listlessness (the liberal use of string orchestration tends to compound rather than mitigate this problem) which in truth can feel oppressive. ‘I’ve Been Dazed’ again shows sweeping ambition, and after a characteristically mournful opening section the track opens out to incorporate an interesting gospel-infused counter harmony (“Time is a healer/love is the answer”) but Kiwanuka’s main vocal soldiers wearily on (“I need peace of mind/help me carry on”) without much sense of hope or conviction.
The fact that Kiwunaka is often mentioned in the same breath as colossi like Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye and Jimi Hendrix is both an acknowledgment of his depth and breadth of talent (pretty much peerless in the terrain he is working in), and of the influences he wears on his sleeve and in his songs. Although he is clearly interested in taking on big themes, he arguably hasn’t really found a level of focus capable of cutting through in any comparable sense to the work of those classic artists. The possible exception being ‘Cold Little Heart’, a masterpiece of self loathing which managed to sear itself into the public consciousness and which by his own admission remains something of an albatross to Kiwanuka.
As such it is likely that this offering will divide listeners, some of which may yearn for a more strident, direct, angry, even hopeful engagement with our troubled times. Others will be content with the pervading nostalgic/melancholic tone and the album’s stylistic odyssey which encompasses 70’s soul textures, gospel, psychedelia and Pink Floyd-esque lyrical introspection. Whether these times really need an ultra-confident musical and political firebrand in the vein of artists like Bob Marley or Gil Scott Heron is a matter of debate. Either way, it will be fascinating to see what Kiwanuka decides to do next.
Michael Kiwanuka will tour across the UK in 2020.
Album Tracklisting:
You Ain’t The Problem/Rolling/I’ve Been Dazed/Piano Joint (This Kind Of Love) Intro/Piano Joint (This Kind Of Love) Main/Another Human Being/Hero/Hard To Say Goodbye/Final Days/Interlude (Loving The People)/Solid Ground/Light
Link to video for ‘Hero’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb_S4aWI6Og
UK Headline Dates, 2020:
2nd March – O2 Guildhall, Southampton
3rd March – O2 Academy, Bournemouth
5th March -O2 Academy Brixton, London
6th March – O2 Academy, Birmingham
7th March – O2 Apollo, Manchester
9th March – Corn Exchange, Cambridge
10th March – De Montford Hall, Leicester
12th March – O2 Academy, Leeds
13th March – O2 Academy, Newcastle
14th March – Barrowlands, Glasgow