Michael Kiwanuka releases Fudge, his first self-produced album in 13 years

Michael Kiwanuka's fifth album Fudge arrived on Friday, 23 October 2026. It is his first self-produced record in 13 years, made away from the pressure of a big studio. A side project that became an album Fudge was written almost alongside 2024's Small Changes, which reunited Kiwanuka with producers Danger Mouse and Inflo. It sat on the shelf for almost a year before becoming a project of its own. Kiwanuka has said it captures a sense of optimism, playfulness and freedom, and that he wanted it to feel spontaneous, as if someone else was making it. The opening song, Summer Clothes, is about accepting that his long-running creative partnership would not last forever. Much of the album, he has said, is about working out his next step on his own. The title is meant to be playful and childlike, and also a polite way of saying he is just going to do it. The tracks The 12 songs are Summer Clothes, California, Just Another Moment, Drowning In Your Heart, Love In My Heart, Across The Sky, Stars, You Sent Me Flying, Move In My Direction, Steve's Paradise, Sing and Swings And Roundabouts. Love In My Heart, a seven-minute song, is the one he has called a eureka moment. The artwork is by his friend, the artist Stevie Gee, and a mural of the cover has gone up in Muswell Hill, the London area where Kiwanuka grew up. No live dates for now Kiwanuka has put live shows on hold while he recovers from a serious health setback earlier this year, which he has spoken about publicly. He has said he is making progress.