Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again (17/05/2012)
If you like your soul music smooth and chilled out, the debut LP from British singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka ‘Home Again’ should be on your must purchase list.
I first discovered him a few months back whilst streaming British alternative radio station XFM and listening in to Shak’s Overnight Show. I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for singer-songwriters and growing up I listened to a fair bit of Motown and Stax Records artists thanks to my mother’s extensive record and CD collection.
You could easily liken Kiwanuka to some of the old staples of folk-soul such as Bill Withers, Otis Redding or Van Morrison and for a more recent comparison even somebody like James Morrison. However there are very few contemporary or new artists that are reviving this sound and doing it successfully.
The opening track ‘Tell Me A Tale’ leads us down a little spring garden path with flutes and soft strumming guitars and lightly brushed drums. Tracks like ‘I’ll Get Along’ and ‘I Won’t Lie’ show an earnestness and feeling of regret in the lyrics but it never comes across as bitter or drenched in angst.
‘Bones’ is something almost straight out of the 1970’s era of dusty vinyl records; with its wistful feather-stroked snare and doo-wop beat and Kiwanuka’s own backing vocal harmonies laced underneath.
Title track ‘Home Again’ relies heavily on acoustic guitar and delicate strings to create an atmosphere of longing and a desire to find a place to belong. A theme that stems back to Kiwanuka’s childhood of growing up in London as an awkward guitar playing kid from Ugandan parents and feeling out of sync with the rest of society’s expectations of what young black people should look or sound like.
From a technical standpoint ‘Home Again’ is an extremely competent album, thanks to Kiwanuka’s previous employment as a session guitarist. Overall the production on this whole album is soft and gentle and warm courtesy of Paul Butler who himself is from indie UK rock band The Bees.
There are elements of jazz and gospel and even blues on this record too, but they are all interwoven to form the basis of a folk-soul sound. However the main downfall of this album is the fact that there’s nothing extraordinary or exceptional that jumps out to grab you.
It’s lovely lounge music, a record you can put on and have on in the background; or listen to whilst lazing around on a Sunday afternoon and just zone out.
Clearly though, since the LP was garnered with the ‘BBC Sound of 2012’ crowning glory there are a number of people who are enjoying this blast from the past retro sound from this brand new shiny artist, so he must be doing something right Be sure to check out Michael Kiwanuka in July when he tours Australia as part of the Splendour In The Grass festival.
Carina Nilma
I first discovered him a few months back whilst streaming British alternative radio station XFM and listening in to Shak’s Overnight Show. I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for singer-songwriters and growing up I listened to a fair bit of Motown and Stax Records artists thanks to my mother’s extensive record and CD collection.
You could easily liken Kiwanuka to some of the old staples of folk-soul such as Bill Withers, Otis Redding or Van Morrison and for a more recent comparison even somebody like James Morrison. However there are very few contemporary or new artists that are reviving this sound and doing it successfully.
The opening track ‘Tell Me A Tale’ leads us down a little spring garden path with flutes and soft strumming guitars and lightly brushed drums. Tracks like ‘I’ll Get Along’ and ‘I Won’t Lie’ show an earnestness and feeling of regret in the lyrics but it never comes across as bitter or drenched in angst.
‘Bones’ is something almost straight out of the 1970’s era of dusty vinyl records; with its wistful feather-stroked snare and doo-wop beat and Kiwanuka’s own backing vocal harmonies laced underneath.
Title track ‘Home Again’ relies heavily on acoustic guitar and delicate strings to create an atmosphere of longing and a desire to find a place to belong. A theme that stems back to Kiwanuka’s childhood of growing up in London as an awkward guitar playing kid from Ugandan parents and feeling out of sync with the rest of society’s expectations of what young black people should look or sound like.
From a technical standpoint ‘Home Again’ is an extremely competent album, thanks to Kiwanuka’s previous employment as a session guitarist. Overall the production on this whole album is soft and gentle and warm courtesy of Paul Butler who himself is from indie UK rock band The Bees.
There are elements of jazz and gospel and even blues on this record too, but they are all interwoven to form the basis of a folk-soul sound. However the main downfall of this album is the fact that there’s nothing extraordinary or exceptional that jumps out to grab you.
It’s lovely lounge music, a record you can put on and have on in the background; or listen to whilst lazing around on a Sunday afternoon and just zone out.
Clearly though, since the LP was garnered with the ‘BBC Sound of 2012’ crowning glory there are a number of people who are enjoying this blast from the past retro sound from this brand new shiny artist, so he must be doing something right Be sure to check out Michael Kiwanuka in July when he tours Australia as part of the Splendour In The Grass festival.
Carina Nilma