Michael Kiwanuka: Kiwanuka (2LP) [INTERSCOPE]

Why you'll love it

This 180g 2LP set comes in a gatefold jacket with two printed inner sleeves carrying the lyrics. Kiwanuka won the 2020 Mercury Prize and drew a Metacritic score of 89 for universal acclaim.

This edition

• 2LP set
• 180g vinyl
• Gatefold jacket
• Printed inner sleeves with lyrics
• Stereo mix
• Pressed in Germany

About the album

Naming an album after yourself is usually a debut move. Michael Kiwanuka saved it for his third, and it suits a record about finally getting comfortable in his own skin. He made it with Danger Mouse and Inflo, the team behind Love & Hate, and they went even further this time. Ann Powers, writing in Slate, held it up as proof that the album format was alive and changing.

The songs flow into one another like a suite, with interludes and strings stitching together psychedelic soul, fuzzed-out rock and gospel. "You Ain't the Problem" opens with a joyous, clattering groove, "Rolling" struts, and "Hero" builds into a swirling guitar climax. "Hard to Say Goodbye" and "Final Days" lean into lush, cinematic arrangements, and "Light" closes things with real grace. Inflo produced every track, and Matt Colton mastered it. Kennie Takahashi engineered much of it.

The Guardian's Dave Simpson called it one of the best albums of the decade, and Q's Dorian Lynskey called it a career-defining masterpiece. Saving the self-titled album for record number three turned out to be rather good timing.

Also at Kops: more Michael Kiwanuka on vinyl · browse 70s Soul On Up

Tracklist

Listen

On Polydor / Interscope (cat# 7795277), the 2019 album.