There's nothing original about this British retro-soul man ? but when you sound like Bill Withers, Van Morrison and the Temptations maybe that's not such a bad thing
Hometown: London.
The lineup: Michael Kiwanuka (vocals, guitar).
The background: Do we really need any more new musicians doing this old soul stuff? Last year, we were decidedly iffy about this kind of British retro-soul man when we featured Liam Bailey in a NBOTD column. Yet with Kiwanuka, we're strangely more upbeat about his prospects. How come? Let's examine the facts. He's a 23-year-old son of Ugandan immigrants who started off a Radiohead and Nirvana fan, playing in rock bands as a teen before finding work as a session guitarist for Tinie Tempah's producer Labrinth. That was his day job. By night he would come over all rootsy, as one tends to after-hours, and keep things acoustic and mellow on the singer-songwriter circuit. We're imagining the three tracks on his MySpace ? not the ones on his forthcoming Tell Me A Tale EP ? are the kind of things he would have been touting at this time. Home Again is folky, with some light orchestration, and a quasi-religious lyric ("So I close my eyes and the tears will clear, and I'll feel no fear"). And the other tracks, Bones and Rest, are simple, pared-down folk-blues, the sort that would suit the Mumford-owned Communion label.
Funnily enough, the Tell Me A Tale EP is being released by Communion, but it sees a shift away from folk towards a more lushly arranged soul sound ? it makes sense, perhaps, that he has been touring with Adele. But what soul sound in particular? The more you listen to the three songs on the EP, the hazier the issue becomes. At first you think: wow, is that a rare Bill Withers album? Play the songs some more and your mind darts between reference points. Tell Me A Tale has the jazzy feel of Van Morrison's Moondance. If Kiwanuka is a soul man, he's an unreconstructed one. He's not another Lewis Taylor ? this isn't avant-soul, or synthesized soul, or Brian Wilson meets Bill Withers. He just is Bill Withers, reborn.
And he is probably the best of the male singer-songwriters we've featured up here of late: he's more immediately impressive than the Ben Howards, Ed Sheerans, Marques Tolivers and Marcus Fosters. By the time the jazzy flute comes in and the loose verse gets shored up by the Rascals-do-Groovin' chorus ("Lord, I need lovin'"), you're sold. Cue the sax solo. I Need Your Company is an oddly platonic title for such an overtly sexual milieu. Not that we were expecting Barry White-style boudoir&b, but that does strike us as unusual. Musically, it moves at an Al Green circa Hi tempo. Not a high tempo ? a Hi tempo. It also feels a bit Temptations '66, ie before Norman Whitfield came along and psyched up Motown. The final track on the EP is Worry Walks Beside Me ? and one day away from having to introduce three bands onstage at a pub in London in front of our peers, we know just what he means. It is simply beautiful. Or rather, Simply Beautiful. Unoriginal, but good. That's our conclusion to today's report.
The buzz: "I'll spare you the laundry list of influences only to say that it's about time someone picked up the torch from Terry Callier and Bill Withers" - Aquarium Drunkard
The truth: It's going to be a lovely daaaaay, tra la la, etc.
Most likely to: Recall Bill Withers
Least likely to: Wither
What to buy: Tell Me a Tale is out on 13 June via Communion
File next to: Bill Withers, Marques Toliver, Al Green, Terry Callier
Links: myspace.com/mikeksongs
Wednesday's new band: Kreayshawn
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