Loyle Carner, Glasgow review: 'not your regular rapper'
On the first of three nights in Glasgow, Loyle Carner showcased the sheer musicality of his rhyming and the energy of his live band, writes Fiona Shepherd
Loyle Carner, Academy, Glasgow ★★★★
Despite growing up in British hip-hop hot spot Croydon, Loyle Carner is not your regular rapper. He is surely unique among his peers in naming a track after chef Yotam Ottolenghi, getting goey about his young son and running a cook school for kids with ADHD called Chilli Con Carner. On the first of a three-night residency in Glasgow, he also extolled the virtues of spending time in the city’s Botanic Gardens. It’s all terribly genteel and wholesome, about as far from gin and juice as you can get.
Carner habitually rap-sings in laidback style, at times closer to spoken word or performance poetry. The energy came from his live band, with whom he recorded his latest album, Hopefully! They eased into proceedings with a couple of its mellow cuts but easily flipped the pace on Ain't Nothing Changed, demonstrating their chops on a conscious hip-hop groove which harked back to old school collectives such as Arrested Development and The Roots.
Carner, meanwhile, showcased the sheer musicality of his rhyming on Yesterday, accompanied by loose drumming and elastic bass, with soulful samples triggered by musical director Aviram Barath. Other flavours include the keening jazz guitar on Damselfly, the skittering drum’n’bass backing of Horcrux and the timeless influences on Nobody Knows, with its languorous trumpet and piano refrains dovetailing into a sample of Pastor TL Barrett’s uplifting gospel soul standard of the same name.
Only his own Speed of Plight could match this for scale. Lyin’, meanwhile, was the phones-out moment for the fans though Carner declared Still, an ode to being vulnerable in front of his son, to be his personal favourite. He returned to the stage to perform a poem countering anti-migrant sentiment and closed his set with the terse, pacey rhythms and undulating melody of A Lasting Place.
The Scotsman’s arts newsletter is now sent twice a week - subscribe today
Want the latest Scottish headlines sent directly to your phone? Sign up to our new WhatsApp channel here.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.