Love & Hate is the second studio album by London-based singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka. The album was released on 15 July 2016 by Polydor Records in the UK and Interscope Records in the US. Upon its release, the album was met with widespread critical acclaim, with some publications listing it as one of the year's best albums.
Background The album is the follow-up record to Kiwanuka's 2012 Mercury Prize-nominated album Home Again. The album was produced by Danger Mouse, Inflo, and Paul Butler. Love & Hate also released four singles. The first single, "Black Man in a White World" was released on 28 March 2016, and was accompanied by a video directed by Hiro Murai. Three more singles followed, with "Love & Hate," and "One More Night" releasing later in 2016, and "Cold Little Heart" releasing in 2017.
Usage in media The song Cold Little Heart is also known for being the opening theme of the HBO television series Big Little Lies.
The song "Love & Hate" featured in various shows and films, including the series finale of the Netflix drama Seven Seconds, the Netflix docudrama When They See Us, the legal drama Suits (season 7, episode 8), Rosewood (season 1, episode 22), Animal Kingdom (season 3, episode 11), Dear White People (season 1, episode 5) and the movie The Tax Collector. In 2019, it was used in the Italian My Brother Chases Dinosaurs and in 2021, it was again used in an Italian production, Speravo de morì prima (episode 2, final scene and credits), based in the final season of footballer Francesco Totti at AS Roma.
The song "Black Man in a White World" is performed by John Clarence Stewart, in character as Simon Haynes, in "Zoey's Extraordinary Reckoning", the sixth episode of the second season of the musical comedy-drama series Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist.
The song "Rule the World" was featured in the Netflix series The Get Down and the HBO Max original series Hacks.
Critical reception
Upon its release, Love & Hate received widespread critical acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 86, based on 23 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". The Telegraph said "This is an album that sounds like a world of music in itself", while The Guardian called the album "the work of an artist coming into his own". Writing for Exclaim!, Ryan B. Patrick lauded Kiwanuka's "introspective study of himself and his standing in a post-millennial world".
Accolades
Publication Accolade Year Rank American Songwriter Top 50 Albums of 2016 2016 2 Banquet Records Albums of the Year 2016 1 BBC Radio 6 Albums of the Year 2016 4 Chicago Tribune Top Albums of 2016 2016 4 GQ 10 Best Albums of 2016 2016 7 The Guardian The Best Albums of 2016 2016 27 Les Inrockuptibles 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016 16 Mojo The 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016 2 NME NME's Albums of the Year 2016 2016 23 Rough Trade Albums of the Year 2016 17
Track listing
Personnel Adapted from the Love & Hate booklet.Cf. with booklet images and transcription.
Performers and musicians Michael Kiwanuka – vocals ; electric guitar ; lead guitar ; acoustic guitar ; guitar ; bass ; piano ; backing vocals Inflo – piano ; drums ; bass ; backing vocals Brian Burton – bass ; percussion ; synth pad ; piano ; organ Graham Godfrey – drums ; percussion ; hand claps ; backing vocals, ; tape machine FX Paul Butler – percussion ; cello and trumpet ; electric guitar, keys, drum machines and backing vocals ; clavinet, Moog, piano and Yamaha CS-80 Andy Parkin – violin Miles James – electric guitar Pete Randall – double bass ; Fender bass VI ; backing vocals Gary Plumley – flute ; saxophone James Bateman – saxophone Paul Boldeau, Phebe Edwards, LaDonna Harley-Peters – backing vocals Wired Strings Jenny Sacha – violin Gillon Cameron, Anna Croad, Sally Jackson, Patrick Kieman, Eleanor Mathieson, Kotono Sato, Debbie Widdup – violin Natalia Bonner – violin Kerenza Peacock – violin Emma Owens – viola Naomi Cohen – viola Becky Jones – viola Rosie Danvers – cello ; string arrangements Bryony James – cello Richard Pryce – double bass Huw White – string arrangements
Technical Brian Burton (as Danger Mouse) – production ; vocal production Inflo – production ; strings production Paul Butler – production, engineering and mixing ; vocal production Kennie Takahashi – engineering ; mixing Richard Woodcraft – engineering ; strings engineering; mixing Todd Monfalcone – engineering ; mixing assistant Dave Granshaw – engineering Jon McMullen – engineering ; mix engineering Samur Khouja – engineering Guy Davie – mastering
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2016) Peak position French Albums (SNEP) 5 New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ) 4 Chart (2019) Peak position Chart (2021) Peak position
Year-end charts Chart (2016) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 108 Chart (2020) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 177
Certifications
References
External links Kiwanuka's homepage