Michael Kiwanuka has recently released a new song called “Beautiful Life” while simultaneously announcing tour dates after not being able to tour since the beginning of the pandemic. After the tour for his third LP was cut short due to the pandemic, Kiwanuka has put his efforts into creating the music for his newest LP, and while there is yet to be an official release date, the new music is a good sign it may be coming up soon.

The track was written at the request of Oscar winning British director Orlando von Einsiedel, who reached out to see if he would be interested in contributing to a new documentary, Convergence: Courage In A Crisis (out via Netflix today) and thus “Beautiful Life” was made. This is the first music since Kiwanuka’s 2019 release Kiwanuka, which Pitchfork reviewed: “Offering no blandishments, no expressions of we’ll-get-through-this, Kiwanuka is a nerve-wracked, sustained act of whistling in the dark. Absent, though, is any hint of reveling: a tendency that often leads to soul rot. When Kiwanuka sings, ‘The young and dumb will always need/One of their own to lead,’ he doesn’t volunteer.”

Alongside this release are his long awaited UK tour dates, which is set to begin in May of 2022 and take place over the course of a month. The UK has been one of the slowest countries to reopen since the onset of the pandemic, and fans are excited to finally start coming to venues again and listening to live music. Kiwanuka is also set to headline the sold-out Green Man Festival next Summer and will join Liam Gallagher at a sold out Knebworth Park in June.

Michael Kiwanuka Live (UK):

6^th May – O2 Academy, Glasgow

8^th May – O2 Academy, Leeds

9^th May – De Montford Hall, Leicester

11^th May – Corn Exchange, Cambridge

13^th May – Empress Ballroom, Blackpool

14^th May – Bonus Arena, Hull

17^th May – O2 Apollo, Manchester

18^th May – O2 City Hall, Newcastle

20^th May – Brighton Centre

21^st May – Pavilions, Plymouth

23^rd May – O2 Academy, Brixton

25^th May – Alexandra Palace, London

4^th June – Knebworth Park, Herts (w/ Liam Gallagher)

8^th August – Summer Sessions, Edinburgh

18^th – 21^st August – Green Man Festival, Brecon Beacons