British musician Michael Kiwanuka introduced and ingratiated himself with his acclaimed debut album, Home Again. A talented, unassuming young man of Ugandan heritage and honeyed voice, Michael was busy making some of the sweetest contemporary soul music of recent years.
With a BRIT Award to his name before arguably finding his own distinct space, Michael took a decidedly left turn for the Love & Hate LP. Produced alongside Danger Mouse, the record flew to number 1 in the UK, with its otherworldly soundscapes sounding utterly both singular and sprawling, an opus by anyone’s definition. Notably, the haunting “Cold Little Heart” featured as the title music to HBO’s Big Little Lies, introducing Michael’s music to a whole new and appreciative audience (counting the likes of Barack Obama, Adele, and Tyler The Creator amongst them).
With the benefit of hindsight, Love & Hate almost acted as a blueprint for 2019’s KIWANUKA, Michael’s third and most definitive release to date, with Danger Mouse and British producer Inflo back behind the glass. A complex but deeply listenable and expansive expression of self-worth, KIWANUKA reaped Michael the distinguished Mercury Prize in 2020, his fourth and fifth BRIT nominations (British Male Solo Artist and British Album), and his first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Album. All three records have been certified gold status in the UK alone.
Quite how an artist begins to follow up one of “the greatest albums of the decade” (The Guardian), we will surely soon find out, but Michael’s been keeping himself in good company as a regular contributor and confidante of the acclaimed SAULT collective, both on and off stage.
As we welcome him back to festival stages this Summer (where he excels, helping to sell out Green Man in 2022 on his name’s headliner reveal alone), what Michael delivers for his fourth act will be hotly anticipated. An artist in its truest, purest sense.
