The Singles Jukebox

Since 2012 our standards for “the fivest [5] ever” have changed a bit…

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[6.71]

Iain Mew: This is audibly still the same guy responsible for the five-est five ever, still just as in thrall to the past. Yet all it takes is some more adventurous choices, a bit of unpredictability, a bit of a Janelle Monáe vibe, and it’s so much more enjoyable.
[7]

Alex Clifton: “Feel-good music” is a stupid, nebulous descriptor. “Feel-good music” brings to mind aggressively positive songs that come across as twee, music that has the emotional subtlety of a crowd of children screaming “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” But sometimes you hear something that fits. “You Ain’t the Problem” is sunshine breaking through clouds, a gentle breeze on a warm day, the infinite possibilities of a Friday evening once you’re off work. It’s nice to hear a song that goes down so dang easy, where you can sit back and let it wash over you however you like. A lovely little mental break from the chaos of the world.
[8]

Alfred Soto: It’s got the Temptations in its soul and owes a large debt to Raphael Saadiq’s thick grotty R&B, but despite the grain in his voice Michael Kiwanuka hasn’t absorbed these influences into tunes beyond the sort that get your parents’ approval. 
[5]

Nortey Dowuona: A ragged, jagged guitar and a humming bass spiral around slamming bongos, which give way to a simple, flat drum groove that can barely contain the bass solo. Michael provides some bland lyrics, which are overpowered by the screeching “la”s. There’s a final explosion of every musical element in one last, desperate, flailing heave, then a tiny synth plays the main melody to the baby mice in the audience.
[6]

Katherine St Asaph: It’s not Michael Kiwanuka’s fault that an entire music-advertising-sync apparatus has sapped the joy out of this kind of lite-soul, particularly since “You Ain’t the Problem” is significantly better than the stuff it sapped it with. The outro is particularly nice.
[6]

Ian Mathers: I especially love the sunburst of fuzzbox guitar and “la la la”s that come out every so often, and there’s a warmth in Kiwanuka’s voice that makes the blunt, forceful way he sings the title more effective. The sonics are very different, but emotionally this would make a surprisingly good counterpart to Bjork’s “It’s Not Up to You”; here, it’s not as if he’s refusing the possibility that you could ever be the problem, just that this is a song for those times when you’re not and someone or something is trying to make you think you are (and then, as always, cui bono?).
[8]

Edward Okulicz: Insertion of classic upbeat soul-pop is not something new, just a different cliche for Kiwanuka. But he sells this one because when he snaps “you ain’t the problem,” it’s a legitimately attention-grabbing hook line. It’s amazing how far one of these can take you.
[7]