Michael Kiwanuka Sets October Release for FUDGE

Michael Kiwanuka will release his fifth album, FUDGE, on October 23, 2026, through Polydor Records. The 12-track album was recorded in Southampton and Frome and is the first album Kiwanuka has made without his longtime production partners Danger Mouse and Inflo. He initially took the studio recordings to Dom Monks and Rosie Danvers.

Work on FUDGE was carried out with Joe Connell at Dreamers, a one-room studio near Southampton. The album was written almost simultaneously with the writing of Kiwanuka's 2024 album Small Changes. Seven-minute track Love in My Heart emerged after Kiwanuka and Connell began improvising, and Kiwanuka described recording the song as the moment he realized the work could become an album.

Kiwanuka cited the Beatles' Rubber Soul, Neil Young's On the Beach, Frank Ocean's Blonde and Shuggie Otis' Inspiration Information as reference points for FUDGE. The 12 songs include Summer Clothes, California, Drowning in Your Heart, Across the Sky, Stars, Sing and Swings and Roundabouts. The album artwork was created by illustrator and animator Stevie Gee.