Michael Kiwanuka’s self-titled album from 2019 got a lot of praise.
It took some surprising musical twists and turns through its award-winning runtime, but it had a consistently soulful sound pinned down by Kiwanuka’s voice.
On “Floating Parade”, that authentically soul-inflected sound continues, even more so than his previous work.
As a sweet harmonising guitar riff plays over the top of subtle acoustic guitar, a reverb-strong choir sings:
Ooh, love like this
Nothing like this
When the drums and snaky bass join in, the backing choir sings the same refrain in a different key. It’s a technique he used on his previous album, and it works just as well here. Everything is floating, appropriate for the song’s title.
Chords float unresolved, creamy strings melt around the other instruments, and then Kiwanuka’s voice.
Oh, that voice.
That voice is something else. It’s like honey. He sings with what almost seems like reticence, but when he holds a note over a resolving chord at the end of the first verse, there’s this beautiful softness that’s considered and joyous.
It’s soothing, sexy, gentle, full of soul. And by full of soul, I’m saying that he’s throwing his soul out there. You can feel his inner self revealed through the voice as he sings of gentle struggles:
We can be solid but hardly make a dent
His work regularly comments on racial issues:
People keep talking about how pots don’t melt
Well, we don’t belong in this hard luck hand we’re dealt
So, we need foreign times to arrive
And we’ll reach out to that floating parade
I find the words “foreign times” interesting. They could allude to people’s perception of other races or ethnicities. It could mean that something unusual or unfamiliar needs to happen. It might mean we need a melting pot, a chance for all sorts of different cultural people to mix together.
And the “floating parade” is fascinating too. The line is sung with a hopeful change of melody, lifting the song to a different place. A procession in the air of lots of different people from different backgrounds dancing and celebrating together is what is conjured in my mind.
Then the ethereal choir jumps in to break the song in two and start again with another verse of gently ambiguous lyrics:
“Count all your blessings,” my mother says
Don’t keep repressing a heart that’s heaven-sent
Fall on my knees to the sky for a sign
And I’ll reach out to that floating parade
Don’t wait
When he falls on his knees, it feels like he’s praying. Is God the “floating parade?” Is he urging people to reach out to a higher force without delay? It’s unclear, and more satisfyingly mysterious for it.
In the second part of the first verse, strings arrive and smoothly drift all over the song. In the second verse, piano does the same. Like the rest of the song, it’s laid-back, relaxed, and utterly gorgeous.
With every record, he seems to delve deeper into the soulful heart of the music he’s making.
