Cold Little Heart

This article is about the song by Michael Kiwanuka. For other songs, see Home Again (disambiguation) § Songs.
"Cold Little Heart"
Single by Michael Kiwanuka
from the album Love & Hate
Released24 February 2017
Recorded2016
Genre
Length9:58
LabelPolydor (UK)
Interscope (US)
SongwriterMichael Kiwanuka
Producers
Michael Kiwanuka singles chronology
"One More Night"
(2016) 		"Cold Little Heart"
(2017) 		"Money"
(2019)

"Cold Little Heart" is a song by British singer/songwriter Michael Kiwanuka, from his second studio album, Love & Hate. It was released as the fourth and final single from the album on 24 February 2017.

The song was used in the opening credits of the American noir comedy series Big Little Lies.[1]

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Cold Little Heart" as a single was first released onto YouTube on 23 March 2017, where it has reached over 250 million views as of November 2025.[2]

Reception

Marcus J. Moore of Pitchfork stated that "Cold Little Heart" was the best song on Love & Hate, saying "the album's 10-minute opener is easily the record's best song, landing somewhere between Pink Floyd's soul/rock hybrid and Isaac Hayes' orchestral arrangements".[3]

In another positive review of the album, Alexis Petridis of The Guardian states: "It takes confidence to open an album with a song that lasts over 10 minutes, the first five of them entirely instrumental. That confidence could obviously be wildly misplaced – a five minute instrumental overture replete with strings, wordless backing vocals and melancholy slide guitar that sounds not unlike the work of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour could be an exercise in terrible hollow pomposity. But instead, Cold Little Heart proceeds with a stately assurance: the moment where the song suddenly pulls into focus is really thrilling."[4]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Cold Little Heart"9:58
2."Cold Little Heart (Radio Edit)"3:30

Personnel

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "Cold Little Heart"
Chart (2017) Peak
position
US Rock & Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[5] 47

Certifications

Certifications for "Cold Little Heart"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[6] Platinum 60,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[7] Platinum 90,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[8] Gold 50,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[9] Platinum 30,000‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[10] Gold 30,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[11] Platinum 50,000‡
Portugal (AFP)[12] Platinum 10,000‡
Spain (Promusicae)[13] Platinum 60,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[14] Platinum 600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[15] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Miller, Matt (23 March 2017). "The 'Big Little Lies' Theme Song is Actually an Awesome 10-Minute Soul Ballad".
  2. ^ Michael Kiwanuka - Cold Little Heart (Official Video). YouTube
  3. ^ Moore, Marcus J. (25 July 2016). "Michael Kiwanuka: Love & Hate". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  4. ^ Petridis, Alexis (14 July 2016). "Michael Kiwanuka: Love & Hate review – soul-searching with the tang of authenticity". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  5. ^ "Michael Kiwanuka Chart History (Rock & Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  6. ^ "Brazilian single certifications – Michael Kiwanuka – Cold Little Heart" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  7. ^ "Danish single certifications – Michael Kiwanuka – Cold Little Heart". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  8. ^ "Italian single certifications – Michael Kiwanuka – Cold Little Heart" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  9. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Michael Kiwanuka – Cold Little Heart". Radioscope. Retrieved 17 February 2026. Type Cold Little Heart in the "Search:" field and press Enter.
  10. ^ "Norwegian single certifications – Michael Kiwanuka – Cold Little Heart" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  11. ^ "Wyróżnienia – Platynowe płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2022 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  12. ^ "Portuguese single certifications – Michael Kiwanuka – Cold Little Heart" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  13. ^ "Spanish single certifications – Michael Kiwanuka – Cold Little Heart (Radio Edit)". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  14. ^ "British single certifications – Cold Little Heart". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 February 2026. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Cold Little Heart in the "Search:" field.
  15. ^ "American single certifications – Michael Kiwanuka – Cold Little Heart". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
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