If self-loathing anxiety has shadowed your life for a long period of time, sometimes the solution is to have a consistently supporting loving family around you. While previous record Kiwanuka – as evident by its title – was Michael Kiwanuka looking inward for answers to his anxiety problems and coming to terms with his identity, the clear-headed follow up Small Changes is the British musician appreciating and by motivating by the familial circle that surrounds him and that has rapidly grown since 2016; he married Christian wife Charlotte in 2016 and recently added their son and daughter, as well as their dog Whisky into their ménage. Moving from a noisy London to the more tranquil south seas of Southampton after the release of the Mercury Prize winning predecessor also helped him concentrate on the family part of his life.
“I was the leaving kind, I have never wasted time. You walked towards my call, you saw the warning sings and didn’t pay no mind. You got too much pride, breaks your heart each time, you keep it all inside / Oh darling, I’m always with you,” is Kiwanuka showing gratitude to for his wife’s patience through the times when the singer was experiencing his worst mental issues. Like a lot of the album ‘One and Only’ is musically minimalist and straightforward in its music and messages – soft drum knocks and light strokes of piano, strings and organ. It’s as if Small Changes is an album that maintains sophisticated charm but has a warm simplicity for his family to comprehend and enjoy at home. Notably the track’s main instrument is the Fender Strat guitar, which makes it sound like Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Under The Bridge in its intro. An instrument performed on several tracks throughout Small Changes.
“Stay By My Side’ – which has an aquatic texture that recalls Radiohead’s ‘Subterranean Homesick Alien’ next to its shifting drums and spectral soul – is Michael Kiwanuka’s expressing his unlimited love for Charlotte through water metaphors. “You own me no apology. No heart’s desire to be alone, but yours and mine overflow and in modern times, I won’t leave the shore. Stay by my side, there’s nothing I would leave you for.” It’s sweet and genuinely heartfelt. Furthermore on the album shortest track ‘Live For Your Love’ Kiwanuka shows regret for his repeated pattern of coldness towards his spouse and his surprise at being loved despite this. “Over and over again I left you cold. Over and over you take me back.”
Looking at his children grow up has made him think about his childhood. “Follow your dreams like a lost child” sings Kiwanuka on ‘Follow Your Dreams’, which uses a bold yet somewhat out of place synthesizer. Small Changes’ apex is the two part ‘Lowdown’. Separated by the sound of applause, the two parts hear Michael Kiwanuka and his production buddies Danger Mouse and Inflo joined by Jimmy Jam (known for working with Janet Jackson) on the Hammond organ, bassist Pino Palladino (whom has played live for The Who) as Kiwanuka embraces his interest in 70s Afro-rock such as Nigerian teen group Ofege for their laid back attitude. You can hear that the high school student’s 1973 song ‘It’s Not Easy’ is key inspiration in its idling production style. This brings the London-born musician back to one’s high school era when you don’t think too hard about what the world expects you to do.
‘The Rest Of Me’s smooth soul rhythm was inspired by the moments when Michael Kiwanuka would listen to Sadé’s debut album ‘Diamond Life’ in his aunt’s car. The track starts off with acoustic guitar and woos of jubilation before entering a second groovier section with Inflo on the Fender Rhodes electric piano, Michael Kiwanuka appears to be entering the second phase of his life with the help of his Christian faith. “Back when I was lost. Stumbling around, you found me / / Lord, I need your loving (Behind)/ God knows I gotta be (Behind)”. In the past he might have restricted himself from embracing his religion but with each album he opens up more about aspects of his life.
The soothing aura in ‘Floating Parade’ is a refreshed Michael Kiwanuka charitably giving back. It gives those suffering from anxiety a comforting evocation. Imagine a group of people congregating in a street. As they are joined hand in hand in rows, they start to slowly sway from side to side like a calm wave. This is what Kiwanuka describes as a floating parade. It’s easy to be transported into this vision when hearing a dreamy harmony persuade you to join their cushiony support group: “ooooh like this. Nothing like this.” The use of “we” in Kiwanuka’s words “We can be stronger than life itself / We need foreign times to arrive” is Kiwanuka being part of and connecting to the anxiety society and sending the message across that communities such as having a family can help you get through those troublesome times.
