Michael Kiwanuka

Chronix,

Kids Sister, Michael, Kiwanuka.

Yeah, British and American.

And I know that there was a little bit of beef between them.

are you

digging? Well, a British fella named Michael Kiwanuka.

He's actually of Ugandan descent, kind of known for warm retro soul, kind of mixed with folk and psychedelic rock.

His song Cold Little Heart was actually the theme for HBO's Big Little Lies.

He's Bezo.

And what have we got on the schedule for this week? What are we going to start with? Should we start with your mate, Michael Kiwanuka?

Let's start down and go up.

And I don't just mean the quality of the album.

It's heavy, isn't

it? It's heavy because I don't know whether you felt like this, but it felt like, and we have to say that for those who missed last week's episode, Michael Kiwanuka was dropped this album, and then fairly quickly afterwards had a fairly debilitating stroke.

So currently can't tour, may never return to touring, may never return to recording music ever.

And it seems that the production of this album was finished off by its collaborators and that there's kind of a pull hanging over this album.

Moses is a very exciting London-based musician who's just about to release his new album, his first one in six years.

And he's the winner of two MOBA awards, no less, and was also nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2020, alongside Dua Lipa, Stormzy, and also the eventual winner, Michael Kiwanuka, which is not bad company at all.

Moses grew up in a lively household of six children, and he discovered music as a teenager, and it was the one thing that he didn't have to share with anyone else.

I think it gave him a sense of purpose, it seems to me, while maybe some of his friends were drawn into some violence and some crime and other things as well.

Just came out the other day and I'm really digging on that album and that song.

And that was followed up by Michael Kiwanuka.

Most of us know Michael Kiwanuka from the soundtrack theme to HBO's Big Little Lies.

Of course, he's had a lot of other songs and a lot of other success.

But this album that came out the other day, Fudge, was supposed to come out last year.

Lots of new music for you this week.

Got something from the new Michael Kiwanuka album.

Got some stuff from Moses Boyd, Lala Hathaway.

Some reissue business, as usual, from Back Hatcher.

Yeah, a track called Razor from the album John Hendricks Live, a Fontana special from 1970.

So Mucho Soul Show here on Totally Wired Radio for Tuesday night.

And I promised you something from the new Michael Kiwanuka album.

so so so so you So that's an album of material that was actually recorded a couple of years ago as part of the kind of small changes album project that Michael Kiwanuka put out in 2024.

But I won't bore you with that.

oh no okay well let's move on to something that's maybe not terrible it's my second choice which is an album that came out just last friday just gone um are you a fan of michael kiwanuka at all

well there's some really good album that he had a couple of years ago i think he won the mercury did he win the mercury for it

He won the Mercury in 2019 for his album Kiwanuka.

um the album was completed before the stroke as i said it was originally set for release last autumn it was obviously pushed back nobody knew what was happening with him i think he was meant to play all together now last whatever august 2025 um and it was just kind of uh said that he was sick and under doctors doctors orders cancelled his tour dates but nobody knew what happened and then last month his team basically released a statement saying that he had a stroke and and he'd spent months in intensive care and then in hospital for rehabilitation and I think he's still in some sort of care in Hampshire near where he lives in Southampton so it was very serious and he's still recovering so this is a really poignant album release because who knows how long it'll be if he gets to make another one or until he makes his next one so Yeah, it's a poignant release for sure.

I think he's one of those artists that is so incredibly underrated.

I think people will still be talking about Michael Kiwanuka's music for another 50 years and I would have said that before his stroke.

In terms of how this follows on from his previous material...