Love & Hate

I must admit, I only came to this man's music recently. I bought his album with 'You ain't the problem' and 'Hero' on it. This is the album before that one and in its own way, is every bit as good. There is something so natural about his style. Sure, you've heard it before, it has a late 60s early 70s soul vibe to it not unlike Bill Withers and Curtis Mayfield, but the impression created is that this is an artist with a lot of heart as well as soul. I now want to get his first album. It's not often I want to check out an artist in such depth.

This was a gift to an old man whom had heard the song "Cold Little Heart" in radio. I have heard the studio version on Youtube, and it seems to be a better and more fulfilling recorded version. I wish the studio version with its more intense energy had been on this album. I still give it 5 stars because Mr. Kiwanuka is such a special musical talent that we rarely see these days and all the songs are easy to like. Thanks to the old man for making me buy this gift to him and letting me hear this true artist.

Good album and well worth a listen. I was attracted to the album by BBC's use of Love & Hate in the ad for the Love & Hate Crime documentary series. Cold Little Heart, Falling and Love & Hate are the standout tracks. The guitar work in Cold Little Heart is outstanding, Floyd-esque.The album has a great feel to it, is well produced (Dangermouse - check out the album "Rome") and MK has a great voice (Falling). The only duff track is track 2, which feels like a filler and is out of context with the rest of the album but I'm being picky here!

Awesome album, but production isn’t top notch. The vinyl sounds muffled in parts until I listened to the downloaded version and heard the same. I guess it’s part of the artists style to record that way, but unless you know, it sounds like a bad recording in places. But, the music speaks for itself. As a huge fan of old soul and funk, it’s refreshing to have a current artist mining the influential artists of the past such as Marvin Gaye, but bringing a contemporary freshness to it.

I bought this as it had the theme music from big little liars, and was pleasantly surprised by the whole range of songs featured on the cd. Brilliant for playing in your car on long journeys.

Watching 'Big, little lies' I became hooked on the music that accompanied the opening credits. These days it's easy to discover who the artist is. I was surprised he was British and then discovered the BBC were using another of his songs in one of their complication trailers so I ordered the CD with autorip. I tend to play in my car through my phone, but I like having the physical CD.This is an excellent CD and I'm enjoying listening to Micheal's voice and lyrics.

I rarely write reviews and I have never used the word "masterpiece" in a review before . Masterpiece was the word that the first hearing of this album elicited. Yes a couple of flat notes in one track but they actually added to the rawness of the piece.From construction through development to final sublime production, a masterpiece. I was already in love with the first track from the TV Series but I was stunned by the beauty and sophistication of the whole track.Whilst Michael is a unique artist in himself, yes, I fell in love with Marvin's music over 50 years ago and now I am "falling in love" with Michael's . Thank you for this beautiful album.

Thank you Amazon prime for introducing me to this artist. It's not a genre of music I'd naturally listen too but this album is an absolute gem, full of sumptuous melody, lush production and an emotional honesty within the songs which is refreshing and often moving. Kiwanuka's voice is beautiful but understated, avoiding the over emotion of some " soul " artists. Many of the tracks are long and quite complex in structure, with the 10 minute opener reminiscent of Pink Floyd in places, but it is the far shorter ' I'll Never Love" that packs the biggest emotional punch. How such a simple song can be so moving I do not know, but it sums up the album perfectly. There is a lot of production on the album, but it all works for me - it's great to hear electric guitar used along side the more traditional soul elements at play hear, reminding me a bit of Prince in places, and the backing vocals and instrumentation ensure that each track remains fresh and interesting. I can't wait to catch this artist live when I can, although I'm not sure how anything he does from now on can surpass this album.