Michael Kiwanuka: Fudge review – rough and instinctive, but also lush and alive with melody
(Polydor)Its release delayed by ill health, Kiwanuka’s latest was made in tandem with 2024’s Small Changes – but it’s much more than a mere companion albumIn November 2024, Michael Kiwanuka released his fourth album, Small Changes, an extremely poised and self-assured piece of work. After three gold albums, a Grammy nomination, a Mercury prize win and the ongoing success of Cold Little Heart, a 2017 single hoisted to virality and million-selling status in the US after its use in TV drama Big Little Lies, Kiwanuka – and his long-term production collaborators Danger Mouse and Inflo – evidently felt confident enough to release a beautiful but wilfully understated album. Recorded in LA, some impressive names lurked in the credits: legendary session musicians including bassist Pino Palladino and the drummer James Gadson, who played on Marvin Gaye’s I Want You and Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly;
Alexis PetridisMusicMichael Kiwanuka