As both a candid portrait of introspection and an exciting step forward with his musical talent, Michael Kiwanuka's Love and Hate beautifully captures the artistic power of vulnerability.
It’s intimate and sprawling, personal and universal, affectionate and daring. It’s also not background music. Sit down in front of your largest speakers, turn up the volume, push play, close your eyes and let Michael Kiwanuka’s Love & Hate envelope your senses while taking you on a journey to the sonic expanses of your mind.
It admittedly spends a lot of time in a downer mode — a more light-amidst-the-dark feel would feel nice — but this sophomore effort remains affecting and affirming in its own quiet way.
Kiwanuka’s talent reasserts itself on a broader canvas through 10 compelling compositions that chart the life and thoughts of a young man growing up fast and in public, all expressed in ways anyone can empathise with.
Unlike his own debut, Love & Hate never feels like an album screwing its eyes shut and trying to make believe that it’s 1971. The retro affectations are bound up with stuff that sounds very modern.
Singer Michael Kiwanuka’s new album is a sprawling soul opus full of longing and self-assessment. It's a bittersweet offering, growing more melancholy as it plays.
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This caught me at a good time, because I just finished listening to all of Songs in The Key Of Life. Like that album is ass hurtingly long but sometimes I just get in the mood to do the WHOOOOOLE thing. And I guess the goodwill from that carried over to me and my love of Soul music definitely helps too. From the opening guitar riffs I was like "oh this will be a good time" AND I WAS RIGHT!
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A great singer songwriter soul record with vintage instrumentation with a modern flair. The vocals and lyrics are both very passionate and strong. This album actually took me two listens to get all the way through, partly because the lyrics hit me a little to personalmy on tracks like Falling, which prooves to me how well put together the words are. Overall, Great expierence that makes me want to dive deeper into his work
The contrast of clipped lead guitar with the gorgeous strings and piano on Love & Hate is brilliant. Michael Kiwanuka strikes that perfect balance between rock and soul, with neither genre superseding the other. The whole album is a juggling act that shows just how talented an artist the man is.
Favourite Song - Cold Little Heart
second relisten. very pleasant album 8.1/10
favourites: cold little heart, falling, love & hate
least favourites: black man in a white world (still pretty good and catchy)
1 | Cold Little Heart 9:57 | 97 |
2 | Black Man In A White World 4:18 | 85 |
3 | Falling 4:16 | 87 |
4 | Place I Belong 4:47 | 79 |
5 | Love & Hate 7:07 | 93 |
6 | One More Night 3:53 | 84 |
7 | I'll Never Love 2:45 | 81 |
8 | Rule the World 5:42 | 88 |
9 | Father's Child 7:05 | 84 |
10 | The Final Frame 4:59 | 91 |
#2 | / | American Songwriter |
#2 | / | MOJO |
#13 | / | Double J |
#14 | / | Q Magazine |
#16 | / | Clash |
#16 | / | Les Inrocks |
#16 | / | No Ripcord |
#17 | / | Rough Trade |
#23 | / | NME |
#25 | / | Sound Opinions |