The last time “Cold Little Heart” singer Michael Kiwanuka visited Seattle, I mistook the 7 o’clock start printed on my concert ticket for the doors-open time, only to arrive as he performed the “Big Little Lies” theme . . . and bid the audience goodnight. I sheepishly assured my husband that was OK; we’d catch his next tour.
Cut to a September 2026 interview with The Guardian, a month before his fifth album, “Fudge,” was due to come out: Kiwanuka revealed he’d suffered a hemorrhagic stroke in July 2025. He’s rehabilitating but still struggles to speak, in addition to other impairments he’d rather not make public. Suffice it to say, no one knows when Kiwanuka will tour again. His full, peaceful recovery comes first, of course. This news also reminded me to never take anything or anyone we cherish for granted.
Until we can applaud the performer’s return to the stage, attending a vinyl bar’s listening session for “Fudge” is about as close to that elating experience as a person can get for now. That’s what I did last week, driving across town to hear it a week before its release.
No recording can ever replace the feeling of hearing a singular talent like Kiwanuka live, although his music’s airy psychedelia stirs the soul whether it plays through headphones, tinny car speakers, or the most modest of home sound systems. But top-of-the-line audio equipment allows his work to truly soar.
Kiwanuka is a sonic artificer of the highest level, capturing lofty hope and languid melancholia in liquid waves that crash and surge around his voice. That comes through magnificently on “Fudge,” which was modestly engineered compared to 2024’s “Small Changes.” That was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Inflo and Danger Mouse, whereas this came together in a simple Southampton studio in the U.K. As such, a close-to-home comfort infuses “Fudge” with real tenderness without sacrificing any of Kiwanuka’s signature sonic luxuriance.
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Kiwanuka’s latest is a sun-soaked daydream of an album awash in afternoon light. It’s easy to get lost in its layers of strings, to chase a cello’s lusty glide past innocent piano notes. But it also has a purposeful solidity, announced by a snippet of an interview with jazz legend Chick Corea that leads into the nostalgic “Summer Clothes.”
“The simplest thing to forget is that what music is about, and any kind of art form is about, is creating the kind of things that you think are beautiful,” says Corea. With “Fudge,” Kiwanuka has certainly done that.
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from Salon’s Culture newsletter, The Swell
