Album review: Michael Kiwanuka’s Love & Hate is an emotional search

Love & Hate by Michael Kiwanuka. Interscope/Polydor via AP

Michael Kiwanuka takes a widescreen approach to emotional distress on Love & Hate, a collection of darting shadows rooted in straightforward melodies. The Londoner's second album benefits from the talents of producers Danger Mouse and Inflo, whose soundscapes give the sorrowful topics plenty of room. There's a cinematic quality to opening track Cold Little Heart, a 10-minute technicolour burst of strings, slide guitar and over- driven choral accompaniment that's as adventurous as it is engaging. Most of the album's 10 songs are rooted in Kiwanuka's acoustic guitar and warm, expressive voice. It is a solid foundation for the souped-up arrangements that feature lyrics dealing with shame, deception, loss and hurt. Black Man in a White World starts like a slave song and lists troubling contradictions that never dissipate. The title boasts an Isaac Hayes-like combination of distorted guitar and insistent backing vocals. Earlier musical comparisons to Terry Callier and Bill Withers still stand, with Kiwanuka's singing also taking on some Paul Weller tones. Love & Hate confirms him as a major talent whose soul-scouring search is well worth following.

* Associated Press