NEWS: Loyle Carner @ O2 City Hall

Image by Sirus Gahan

By the time Loyle Carner released Hugo, his third studio album, the accompanying 18-date live tour had already sold out in a matter of minutes. The tour culminates with a homecoming show at Wembley Arena, but it starts right here on Thursday 23^rd February at Newcastle’s O2 City Hall. About as intimate as it gets for the UK’s best rapper. 

Carner has built an enviable reputation as a live performer during his relatively short career, but removed from the hedonistic aspect of being a musician because of you-know-what, “no shows, no backstage, no festivals, no photoshoots” Loyle turned inwards. Freed from the pressure of the relentless album/touring cycle, Hugo’s content is heavier and more introspective. But the beats are the same old Loyle. His musical palate, an ongoing collaboration with kindred spirits like Tom Misch, Jordon Rakei, and Rebel Kleff, is now so distinctive that the track for HGU from Carner’s third record sprang from searching YouTube for ‘Loyle Carner type beats’; one of several incredible details from the excellent recent Access All Areas Documentary made for the BBC. Listeners to any of the accompanying radio shows will know that Carner is a man of impeccable taste, so as you might expect his tour support roster is killer. Longtime Jorja Smith collaborator Wesley Joseph is well worth getting in early for. 

If a ‘Loyle Carner type beat’ is melodic, often jazzy and rich in depth, a Loyle Carner type show is energetic, emotional and cathartic; an enforced two year hiatus is sure to dial every aspect up one notch more.

Loyle Carner and Wesley Joseph play O2 City Hall, Newcastle on Thursday 23^rd February.