Shrouded in gauzy synths and soft guitar, indie soul artist Michael Kiwanuka released “Small Changes” on Friday, Nov. 22. The album, distinct from the songwriter’s livelier and louder previous releases, is refreshingly simple, spanning 11 tracks which encompass a kaleidoscope of drifting memories and reflections.
Infused with incredible warmth and vitality, “Small Changes” is a scrapbooked tribute to the sun-dappled days of late summer — Kiwanuka’s buttery, resonant vocals are complemented throughout the album by buoyant, rolling percussion. The tracklist of “Small Changes” shimmers with smoky surety, a safe shelter in the midst of waxing currents — the album finds quiet strength in the ease of simplicity, abandoning garish hooks to wait instead for listeners to lean into it first.
The tracklist opens with the sunny echoes of “Floating Parade,” featuring the lyrics “Love, like this / Nothing like this, like this.” Released earlier this summer as a single, the song establishes a warm cadence for the following tracks to continue. Throughout the next songs, Kiwanuka remains faithful to this quality, blending soul and R&B influences to develop his own distinctive character. Layering vocals and cozy acoustics, he drifts through silvery fragments of lyricism, unwrapping the push and pull of love in “The Rest of Me” and a yearning for bravery in “Follow Your Dreams.”
“Old hearts yearning / Whatever we’re going through / Oh, darling, I’m always with you,” Kiwanuka sings in the third track, “One And Only,” against the nostalgic cradle of strumming guitar. Kiwanuka’s sentimental sincerity amid all the noise of modern diffidence is surprising in its unabashedness. Yet, his sheer earnestness seems to circumvent any cliche or cringe that brazen romanticism usually falls victim to, disregarding the threat of being uncool.
The safety that this vulnerability nurtures is one of the most appreciable strengths of “Small Changes” — Kiwanuka imbues his lyricism with meaningful introspection, but doesn’t hold a grudge against those who don’t listen for analysis. The album’s quiet intimacy envelops every listener where they are, carrying no arrogance or expectation.
The richness of “Small Changes” is augmented by Kiwanuka’s grounded upbringing as a Ugandan immigrant in England and the influences of his personal life, inspired by the births of his two children and his recent move from London to the rural English coast. This modest domesticity brings a new softness to Kiwanuka’s tone, affirming the maturity of a man who is content to take in all the scenery as it passes by, who has outgrown the agitation of youth and settled comfortably into his own skin.
However, compared to the singer-songwriter’s earlier release “Kiwanuka,” rich with orchestral flourishes and gorgeous intricacy, the subtlety of “Small Changes” subtlety at times feels naked. After a five-year hiatus, Kiwanuka has deserted the complexity of his previous Mercury Prize-winning works, and seems reluctant to deviate from the album’s established sound, instead building tracks that mellowly blend into each other against similar stripped-down beats. Kiwanuka’s earlier compositions, displaying expansive momentum electrified by bursts of synths and distorted samples, set him apart as an artist, establishing a breathing vitality that stills disappointingly in “Small Changes’” attempt at humility.
Despite this, by the time the tracklist fades out, listeners will find themselves reluctant to let go of the depth of Kiwanuka’s lived-in sound. The modern soundscape is characterized by colorful soundbites, each fighting to stand out with more creativity and magnetism than the last, and by contrast, “Small Changes” is not exhilarating, exciting or dangerous in any sense. However, Kiwanuka shows that it doesn’t have to be — the integrity of his beautiful composition shines through an unassuming exterior, inviting every individual into intimate reflection on the loveliness of life’s twists and turns.
RATING: 4/5
