Small Changes

Michael Kiwanuka's fourth album, Small Changes, is a boundless effort that, while revelling in its musical referents stands tall, ceaselessly, beside them.

It’s a testament to Kiwanuka’s aptitude and those of the producers and others who worked on the album that it engages the psyche within seconds, and the dreary, rain-soaked streets of London suddenly don’t seem depressing.

An intimate but confident record that reveals more of its magic with every listen.

Whatever reductions Kinawuka and his producers may have made in regards to the music’s breadth, the songs on Small Changes more than compensate for that when it comes to depth. Nor is there anything small about the emotions they contain or the pleasures they evoke.

Michael Kiwanuka has always been most comfortable in the reflective quiet that sits beneath even his rowdiest cuts. Small Changes finally sees him lead with it.

As personal as all of these songs sound, there’s a universality to Small Changes that, as with all Kiwanuka’s records, will emotionally connect with others. Everybody hurts, it seems to say, but this might help.

It's a record built to last, from an artist both asserting his footing and opening himself wide, embracing the demands of changes big or small.

Listening to this album feels like falling into the comfort of your bed after a long night of good food, carefree dancing and indulgence in a few too many vices. It envelops you in its velvety arms and comforts you with its charms. I just wish there was a little more of the good times on the album—one without the other never works for too long.

Genuine, gracious, and absolutely first-class.

Here, we find him in a more meditative space, illuminated by the experience of his last five years.

While previous record Kiwanuka – as evident by its title – was Michael Kiwanuka looking inward for answers to his anxiety problems and coming to terms with his identity, the clear-headed follow up Small Changes is the British musician appreciating and by motivating by the familial circle that surrounds him and that has rapidly grown since 2016.

Closing on a magnificent note, it pulls together the threads on this incredible tapestry of work, a complex but warming achievement, one that feels just right to pull around your shoulders on these cold winter days.

Small Changes manages the rare feat of being a beautifully crafted singer-songwriter album in the classic mould without paying audible tribute to any of its classic inspirations, or succumbing to mere tasteful politeness: an album that's informed by the past while sounding unmistakably now.