AS far as Michael Kiwanuka seems to be concerned, nostalgia ain’t what it used to be. On his 2012 debut Home Again, he struck a not-entirely-convincing pose as Muswell Hill’s answer to Bill Withers, seemingly in thrall to early 1970s soul and wearing his influences on his sleeve.

Maybe he felt this backed him into a corner, because Love & Hate is a much more mainstream record; mostly produced by Brian ‘Danger Mouse’ Burton – whose work with Gnarls Barkley and The Black Keys slides into view here - it occupies the sort of territory where the modern family of introspective, emotive singer-songwriters live, rather than trying to reboot Isaac Hayes and Randy Newman.

And it suits Kiwanuka, who, for the most part, successfully aligns his soul leanings and his older-than-my-years voice with the string and piano accompaniments that make Love & Hate an album of its times rather than its creator’s childhood record collection.

Cold Little Heart, Falling and the title track have a sweeping, epic feel, while Black Man In A White World is a heel-clicking, almost jaunty take on race that might have been sung by a particularly upbeat chain gang with access to percussion. Given that Love & Hate falters most when it becomes too retro, Kiwanuka should keep living in the now.