Michael Kiwanuka wrote this epic 10-minute track with the musician and hip-hop producer Inflo, who like Kiwanuka, is English. Kiwanuka told Mojo: "'Cold Little Heart' probably most describes where I got to after getting stuck in my own writing. Usually I write songs in my room on acoustic guitar. But working with 'Flo, I needed to try different ways to shake things up. Cold Little Heart was the result."

Kiwanuka's vocals only kick in after a five-minute guitar-led instrumental. He said: "I've always liked soul music from the '70s like Isaac Hayes and Funkadelic. A lot of it is really patient - 'Maggot Brain' slowly evolves, 'Walk On By' slowly builds. They're like suites, but it's hard to come up with that with just acoustic guitar. (Writing) in the studio at the same time as recording you've got keyboards, guitars, effects, electric guitars, so you can really go to town with long structures and passages."

The song is the opening track of Love & Hate. Co-producer Danger Mouse told Mojo: "The moment we finished 'Cold Little Heart,' there was no way it wasn't going to open the album. Everybody knows about Michael's voice, but he's also an amazing guitar player and songwriter. I said, 'The first song you release off this album should be an instrumental.' We didn't do that, This is the next best thing; opening it with a song, where he doesn't sing in the first five minutes, but it's still all Michael, his melodies and his beautiful guitar playing."