The enormous ‘Carner’ #7 football shirt hanging at the back of the stage during Loyle Carner’s gig at the O2 ABC in Glasgow seemed the perfect symbol for what the South London rapper represents.
His stage name Loyle Carner is a spoonerism of his double-barreled surname Coyle-Larner, and the importance of family is a theme that runs through and defines his Mercury Award-nominated debut album ‘Yesterday’s Gone’. The album ends with a beautiful poem from his mother about Loyle’s upbringing followed by a final song from his late father.
This intimate, genuine feel of the record is what makes Carner’s work so accessible, and what has allowed his fans to connect so closely to his work. His lyrics are honest. They’re personal. But they’re a whole lot of fun as well. There’s nothing sombre about listening to Carner’s beats, put out on top of a mixture of charging guitar riffs, stripped back keys and more traditional hip-hop backbeats.
Loyle manages to translate all of this to the live stage remarkably well. The stage is set up to look like a living room. That giant football shirt looks out over the whole thing, and the stories Carner tells between songs of how he wrote his material are actually quite humbling at times.
His stage name Loyle Carner is a spoonerism of his double-barreled surname Coyle-Larner, and the importance of family is a theme that runs through and defines his Mercury Award-nominated debut album ‘Yesterday’s Gone’. The album ends with a beautiful poem from his mother about Loyle’s upbringing followed by a final song from his late father.
This intimate, genuine feel of the record is what makes Carner’s work so accessible, and what has allowed his fans to connect so closely to his work. His lyrics are honest. They’re personal. But they’re a whole lot of fun as well. There’s nothing sombre about listening to Carner’s beats, put out on top of a mixture of charging guitar riffs, stripped back keys and more traditional hip-hop backbeats.
Loyle manages to translate all of this to the live stage remarkably well. The stage is set up to look like a living room. That giant football shirt looks out over the whole thing, and the stories Carner tells between songs of how he wrote his material are actually quite humbling at times.
RSS Feed
