Album Review: Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again

With the 2024 release of Small Changes, Michael Kiwanuka has seemingly reached a new plain of maturity and sophistication in his canon. In the five-year gap between that and his self-titled effort, his name underwent a rebirth, with Kiwanuka becoming an important player in the singer-songwriter canon of modern UK music.

His musical journey started in 2012 with his debut, Home Again, an album whose classic status is defined not only by its strong songs but also by its rose-tinted production and feel.

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…an album whose classic status is defined not only by its strong songs but also by its rose-tinted production and feel.

The album begins with ‘Tell Me A Tale,’ one of the last songs written, although you would think it was conceived as the first song to introduce the sound and feel. This song brings a great pace to the record, with the urgent minor key verses offset by Kiwanuka’s soft yet punchy vocals in the relaxed chorus. This is all set against a musical backdrop of clashing drums, pulsing flutes, and swooping strings that weave in and out of the track which fades out into the distance.

‘I’ll Get Along’ continues the strong opening of this record with a country-sounding guitar introduction. One of the most striking elements of this song is the sitar/flute combination that serves as a call and response throughout the verses. This pairing works so well and is a feature of a few other Kiwanuka songs of this period. The distinctive drone notes of the Indian instrument add such a lovely hazy feel to the song.

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The intimate production lends itself to this song, making it feel as if you are present at a dimly lit after-hours bar, with the house band serenading the evening.

Moving further on, the song ‘Bones’ takes a 50s crooner approach to the sound. The intimate production lends itself to this song, making it feel as if you are present at a dimly lit after-hours bar, with the house band serenading the evening. The backing vocals in choruses add a nice flavour in addition to the lilting strings rendering into some long-lost Otis Redding song.

One minor critique of the album is the track listing and song choices. While it makes sense to open an album with the singles fans will already know, I feel it might be too frontloaded with the strongest songs. There is a shift from the upbeat introduction to more subtle minor key offerings at the end that feel repetitive when next to each other. There is also a B side called ‘I Need Your Company’ that has a stronger, more upbeat sound that could have worked a lot better in place of one of the more low-key songs to add better pacing to the album.

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…the honesty and comfort this debut album will provide even to first-time listeners makes it a classic of its time.

Special praise must be singled out to Paul Butler, a former member of the indie band, the Bees, whose production and arrangement skills make Home Again stand out. Most of these recordings took place in his basement studio in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, a feel reflected in the shut away, dusty yet warm sound. While there is nothing entirely ‘new’ in this analogue approach, it manages to lift many of the songs from being straight folk or soul-styled tunes into having a hazy, rose-tinted quality to them.

Home Again is an album I remember hearing when it came out as it was in constant family car journey rotation when I was younger. However, it is only in the last year or so that I have come to fully appreciate what I was hearing all those years ago and I don’t think any of that magic has gone. While Michael Kiwanuka has gone from strength to strength in subsequent releases and has developed a lyrical voice that posits his own beliefs (be it spiritual, personal, romantic or otherwise) at the centre, the honesty and comfort this debut album will provide even to first-time listeners makes it a classic of its time.