Michael Kiwanuka: Small Changes review – an exquisite return

As an artist, entertainment is the purpose of your work – or the result of it. If you’re Coldplay, it’s all purpose. Michael Kiwanuka is different. It feels as though whenever he entertains us with the songs ripped from his yearning heart, it’s just a happy coincidence. His last, self-titled album was an instant classic in 2019, a revelatory work perfectly assembled by layering orchestral soul and psychedelic rock over a bedrock of sublime, anthemic songwriting. With that credit banked aside a well-earned Mercury prize, he’s fashioned a more reticent collection. It waits for you to lean into it.

Floating Parade sets out the terms from the start. Song titles can be whispered in verses, rather than relished in choruses. Sympathetic choirs; opaque lyrics. At the end, Four Long Years is a stunning ballad that beautifully answers the question: “What if Bill Withers covered Radiohead?” In between, Small Changes delivers a suite of exquisite songs expertly produced by Danger Mouse and Inflo. There aren’t enough of the guitar heroics that electrify Lowdown (part ii), but that’s a quibble. Another excellent album by an artist – and sometimes entertainer – at his creative peak.