Loyle Carner has released the third album of his career ‘hugo’, allowing listeners to hear a new and fully evolved Loyle who has stepped into fatherhood, unveiling a new level of artistry.

Hailing from Croydon, South London, Benjamin Cole-Larner aka Loyle Carner began his career back in 2014 with the release of an EP called ‘A Little Late’. Loyle started to gain his “Loyle” fanbase with the release of the Album ‘Yesterday’s Gone’ in 2017. Loyle Carner then goes on to release his second Album ‘Not Waving, But Drowning’ two years later in 2019. For listeners who don’t know about Loyle Carner already, it’s highly likely his music had been heard recently through JD Stores across the UK and even multiple FIFA games. 

The album starts with the consecutive singles that Loyle has released in the run-up to the release of the album. ‘Hate’, ‘Nobody Knows (Ladas Road)’ and ‘Georgetown’. You can read the single reviews that have already been written of ‘Nobody Knows’ here and Georgetown here.

‘Hate’ is a great opening track to a project, using this constant play on the contrasts between Love and Hate. “I Hate… I Love…” which sets the tone as the main theme of the album. This can be a representation of many things. A key message that comes across in this track in the topic of the stereotypes that black people are only ever one of two things “playing ball (basketball/football) or maybe rap” so he shares light on all the people that are heroes of the community like nurses and teachers, not leaving out anyone that doesn’t fall under those categories with “all my people at the back”. The track ends with the quote “the man that flew all the way from the sun”.

‘Nobody Knows (Ladas Road)’ opens with a sample of a choir singing “nobody knows all the trouble I’ve seen, nobody knows all the sorrow”. This track leaves a lot for listeners to unpack. There are many things different people can and will connect with in this song. Including myself.

Would it be a Loyle Carner project without a poem? Absolutely not. ‘Georgetown’ opens with the fine words of Guyanan poet and writer John Argen. There is definitely something about the production of this track that mixes so well with Loyle's MC flow, that feels like an old-school hip-hop track but completely unheard of at the same time.

‘Speed of Plight’ is the first track of the album new to listeners' ears. The track opens with this catchy hook that repeats throughout the track. The track itself starts a lot more stripped back in comparison to the previous tracks. Repeating words of “is the world moving fast for you as well, ay yo I can't tell if it be only me”. After hearing this for the first time, it woke a sense of nostalgia, leaving goosebumps. The track in itself almost feels like a memory or moment of reflection of time. “Look at what love can do” almost feels like a message of naivety in what happens when you put love somewhere it isn't deserved. ‘Speed of Plight’ ends with the distant sound of sirens.

The first feature’s come from JNR WILLIAMS and Olivia Dean on track ‘Homerton’ which you can hear the same distant siren in the distance of the track blending the two tracks together slightly. ‘Homerton’ is also the first track of the album that has the jazzy and soulful tones that Loyle fans know Loyle enjoys playing with. Judging from a handful of lyrics, it feels this track Loyle expresses his views of parent-hood from his upbringing (very briefly) to the legacy he wants to leave his friends, family and fans “people that believe” as well as “the mother and the seed”. The making of a track at the very start of Loyle’s road to parenthood. The way the track ends with a quote, unsure of whose voice it stems, “My dad told me one thing, and it’s very true. He said: Sometimes, the parents need their kid more than the kid needs their parents.” is a wholesome perspective to leave listeners on.

‘Blood On My Nikes’ features fellow up-and-coming UK artist Wesley Joseph where both Loyle and Wesley paint a picture of the continuing war young boys and even girls are faced with in areas of poverty across the nation, being street violence. Unsure if Loyle is speaking as a natator or from personal experience with street violence, a story is still told. Wesley sings, “Muma, I lost my friend” while in the second verse Loyle paints a very vivid image:

“Late at night, see the mother that cried

The bullet whizzed past my face, saw her son as he died

My eyes wide yeah,

Ah, shaking up my from the belly from the inside

Ah, I shoulda stayed, shoulda lied

Yeah I shoulda prayed, shoulda tried

Trust, but like his mother, I cried

When they took the boy’s life ‘cause he’s from the wrong side”

The track ends with a speech from Athian Akec talking about the lack of effort and concern the government has over the raising numbers of young lives being lost simply due to poverty and the neglect of societal rights.

Following the topic of the failure of the UK government and disparity in modern society. The seventh track on the album, ‘Plastic’ starts with wubbs of 80’s bass as well as rings of gospel-like organs/keys. Loyle uses this play on words repeating the words plastic to push the narrative of fakeness in the different ways modern society pushes as well as using plastic as a form of imagery while discussing issues of anti-blackness and systemic racism. The track then melts into this hallucinogenic sound where voices are distorted and the sound of instruments becomes a little unnerving which fades and re-appears through the outro before being cut off at the sound of a smartphone lock.

‘A Lasting Place’ is another laid-back track with low-fi bops of the drums and keys twinkling in the background, the warmth of acoustic guitar and the humming of background singers. ‘The Lasting Place’ is a very stripped-back track that gives this sort of breathing space in the album. Halfway through the track you then hear what sounds like a reading of what can be assumed to be another poem from a new voice that giggles halfway through at the sound of a young child… potentially Loyle’s new family? There is another instrumental before you hear more from Loyle and his spoken-word-like rap. Ending, with the sound of white noise hearing Loyle’s voice through radio.

‘Polyfilla’ feels like a form of extension from the interlude-like track ‘A Lasting Place’ in a sense of ‘Polyfilla’ builds from the previous track and adds to it. Talking about change. While Loyle expresses his anger about his past to listeners, you hear his vocals start to fuzz and suddenly become the main focus like a lens for a slit second only. Continuing as normal among the mix until listeners hear “when I was younger I wanted to be famous, now that I’m older I wish that I was nameless” Loyle then ends the track with another narration, another perspective.

Finally... The tenth track ‘HGU’ opens with more low-fi noises, the first lyrics being “I forgive you, I forgive you, I forgive you.” immediately comes across as a resolution track, even though it has a mildly aggressive undertone. The use of the bars “because hurt people, hurt people” sounds like this understanding that Loyle has come to within himself to recognise pain is passed through pain and that it isn’t a fair world we live in. It’s these two harmonious combinations that make this final track feel like a resolution for Loyle, the end of another chapter.

From first finding Loyle with the single release of ‘NO CD’ back in 2016, ‘hugo’ even as a listener and a fan you can feel this sense of achievement. The amount of layers within this album is too much to unpack all at once because ‘hugo’ is genuinely one of the finest pieces of art within UK music that cannot be argued. Hopefully will forever be known as the game changer of UK hip-hop being that the album is so much more than “just another rap album”.