Michael Kiwanuka released Fudge, his fifth studio album, on October 23 through Polydor Records. The project was primarily recorded in Southampton and Frome, with Kiwanuka taking the production lead.
He later brought the recordings to producer Dom Monks and longtime string collaborator Rosie Danvers to complete the album. The writing developed close to the period that produced 2024’s Small Changes, but the material became a separate project. A lyric video for California accompanies the release.
A change behind the recording desk
The production credit is a concrete distinction from Kiwanuka’s recent work with Danger Mouse and Inflo. It provides a useful question for approaching the album: how does the presentation of a voice or instrumental part change when the songwriter also leads the recording process?
The participation of Monks and Danvers also shows why “self-produced” does not mean “made entirely alone.” An album can be directed by its artist while still depending on other musicians, arrangers and technical collaborators. Reading those roles together gives a more complete picture of how a recording reaches its final form.
The accompanying image is an archival photograph from Paris in 2012, not a new studio photograph. Photo: Nicolas Richoffer, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. The original is retained, with display crops and thumbnails for the layout.
Source: Official release announcement.
