Kiwanuka is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka. It was released on 1 November 2019 through Polydor and Interscope Records. The album won the 2020 Mercury Prize, and was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards.
Critical reception
On the review aggregator website Metacritic, Kiwanuka has a score of 89 out of 100 based on 21 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.
Dave Simpson of The Guardian hailed Kiwanuka as a "bold, expansive, heartfelt, sublime album" and one of the best of the decade, while Dorian Lynskey of Q called it a "compassionate, career-defining masterpiece". In her review for NME, Elizabeth Aubrey highlighted the personal nature of its lyrics, commending it as "a daring leap of self-affirmation." Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph described it as "an album in which a troubled spirit seeks the relief of music to mesmerising and charged effect." In a year-end essay for Slate, Ann Powers cited Kiwanuka as proof that the album format is not dead but rather undergoing a "metamorphosis", with artists such as Kiwanuka utilizing the concept album through the culturally-relevant autobiographical narratives, which in this case is a "song cycle alchemizing violence through compassion".
The album won the Mercury Prize 2020. It was the third time in his career he had been nominated following nominations for Home Again and Love & Hate but the first time he had won.
Accolades +Accolades for Kiwanuka Publication List Rank Afisha Daily (Russia) The Best Foreign Albums of 2019 Albumism The 50 Best Albums of 2019 AllMusic Best of 2019 American Songwriter Top 25 Albums (and 25 More That We Loved) of 2019 BBC Radio 6 Music Albums of the Year 2019 Chicago Tribune Best rock-pop-rap albums of 2019 Clash Albums of the Year 2019 Double J The 50 best albums of 2019 The Economist The best albums of 2019 Gigwise 51 Best Albums of 2019 God Is in the TV GIITTV Album of the Year Poll Results 2019 Good Morning America 50 of the best albums of 2019 The Guardian The 50 best albums of 2019 Houston Chronicle Andrew Dansby's albums of 2019 The Independent The 50 best albums of 2019 The Line of Best Fit The Best Albums of 2019 Ranked Mondo Sonoro (Spain) The best international albums of 2019 musicOMH Top 50 Albums Of 2019 The New York Times (Jon Pareles) Top 50 Albums Of 2019 NME The 50 best albums of 2019 No Ripcord The 50 Best Albums of 2019 PopMatters The 70 Best Albums of 2019 Under the Radar Top 100 Albums of 2019
Track listing
Personnel Credits adapted from digital and printed liner notes.Image of first of two credit pages in CD booklet on Discogs.
Musicians
Michael Kiwanuka – vocals , acoustic guitar , electric guitar , bass , organ, piano and synthesizer , percussion Inflo – drums , percussion , piano , synthesizer , organ , keyboards , programming , electric guitar , background vocals , vocals Kadeem Clarke – synthesizer , keyboards , piano , Wurlitzer electric piano Danger Mouse – programming , percussion and tambourine , electric guitar , keyboards Jean Kelly – harp Dizzy Daniel Moorehead – saxophone George Hogg – trumpet Chloe Vincent – flute Nathan Allen – percussion James Casey, Alecia Chakour, Jasmine Muhammed, Saundra Williams – background vocals Paul Boldeau, Yolanda Greaves, LaDonna Harley Peters – background vocals
Wired Strings Natalia Bonner – violin Zara Benyounes – violin Sally Jackson, Patrick Kiernan, Steve Morris – violin Anna Croad – violin Stephanie Cavey – violin Deborah Widdup – violin Eleanor Mathieson – violin Gillon Cameron, Helen Hathorn, Hayley Pomfrett, Kotono Sato, Ellie Stanford – violin Jenny Sacha – violin Sarah Sexton – violin Nick Barr – viola Bruce White – viola Fiona Leggat, Emma Owens – viola Rosie Danvers – cello , string arrangements Bryony James – cello Richard Pryce – double bass
Technical Danger Mouse – producer Inflo – producer , recording engineer , mixer Kennie Takahashi – recording engineer , mixer Tom Campbell – assistant recording engineer , recording engineer , strings recording engineer Richard Woodcraft – mixer , strings recording engineer , vocal engineer Matt Colton – mastering engineer
Charts
Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for Kiwanuka Chart (2019) Peakposition French Albums (SNEP) 31 Italian Albums (FIMI) 79 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 37 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) 27
Year-end charts +Annual chart performance for Kiwanuka ChartYear Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)2019 170 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)2020 86 UK Albums (OCC)2020 92
Certifications
References