With Mercury and Brits nominations, NME Awards, appearances on COLORS and for well-known fashion brands, Loyle Carner has enjoyed a meteoric rise since we reviewed his Brighton show in 2016, before he’d even released his debut album ‘Yesterday’s Gone’. His second album ‘Not Waving, But Drowning’, featuring the likes of Sampha, Jordan Rakei and Jorja Smith, charted at number 3 in the UK albums chart in 2019. With his latest album ‘hugo’, Loyle Carner becomes more political, touching on racial inequalities and gender stereotypes, while retaining the deeply personal storytelling he has become known and loved for.
Wesley Joseph is supporting Loyle Carner on his current UK tour before embarking on his own international tour in the spring. Having performed for the first time at The Great Escape last year, Joseph shows all the same promise that Carner did six years ago. With a keen eye for visuals and film-making, as well as a talent for both rapping and singing, he is making himself stand out as a fascinating artist, who combines r’n’b, hip hop and electronica into a unique and thrilling sound.
With only a keyboardist, laptop and mic, Joseph shows off his impressive flow and falsetto vocals over his short, half-hour set. Half the student population of Brighton is in attendance, raising hands in the air during songs from his exciting debut album ‘Ultramarine’ and recent release ‘Glow’. They oblige when Wesley asks for a selfie with the crowd and he returns the favour by handing out his CD.
At a sold-out Brighton Dome, the stage transforms as a five-piece band take up their positions, bathed in red lights with a backdrop of white, satin curtains that change colour with the lighting. Loyle Carner comes storming through the middle in a baggy, purple hoodie, embossed with skeleton ribs. Phones go straight up in the air for ‘Hate’, the fierce opening track from ‘hugo’, followed by the anti-consumerist ‘Plastic’, ‘You Don’t Know’ and ‘Georgetown’, which samples a poem by the Afro-Guyanese playwright John Agard and uses the black and white keys of a piano as a metaphor for Carner’s experience of being mixed race.
Carner leans against a lamppost at the side of the stage for the intro of ‘Desoleil (Brilliant Corners)’, featuring Sampha, as the audience sings along to the chorus with a knowing familiarity. A fan in the crowd literally gives the singer some flowers, which he takes with him at the end of the show. There’s a lot of love for Loyle Carner in this room.
‘Angel’, with regular collaborator Tom Misch, has the crowd clapping and singing along as the band transition into ‘Damselfly’ before a guitar solo. “Is the world moving fast for you as well?” Carner asks the eager crowd before launching into ‘Speed Of Plight’, which builds until the heavy bass reverberates through the floor and all arms are pumping the air, while Carner spits bars.
Carner asks if he can tell a story and tells us about his two-year-old son and their day at Brighton Pier, eating fish and chips. He dedicates the next song to him and the tempo slows for ‘Homerton’, followed by a beautiful trumpet solo, while Carner sits on the speaker. Youth MP Athian Akec makes a surprise appearance on stage to recite the outro of ‘Blood On My Nikes’, at the end of which he and Carner embrace warmly. Carner praises him for speaking eloquently in parliament about knife crime at the tender age of 16 and also shouts “f*** the Tories” to many yells of agreement!
After ‘Lost’, he talks about the toxic masculinity that blighted his childhood and implores us to “speak to your homies” if we’re struggling. This is followed by an uplifting rendition of ‘Loose Ends’ with Jorja Smith (who has also collaborated with Wesley Joseph), interspersed with an a cappella from Carner that has the audience hanging off every word. A couple of people are up on shoulders, swaying and singing along with smiling faces. After an energetic performance of ‘Ain’t Nothing Changed’ from his first album, there is an extended period of deafening applause, while Carner looks out at the standing ovation in wonderment. When the cacophony eventually subsides, he speaks about his mutual love for Brighton and gives a shoutout to local duo Frankie Stew & Harvey Gunn.
The bars of ‘Nobody Knows (Ladas Road)’ with its gospel refrain also reveals Carner’s struggles with self identity. At this point, he speaks about eventually forgiving his biological father for being absent during his childhood and ultimately finding happiness. The words tumble out so fast, it’s easy to see why he raps so effortlessly. He explains that the registration plate of the car that his dad taught him to drive in – and where they learned to understand each other better – ends in ‘HGU’, the title of the last song on the album.
Unlike the last show we reviewed, this time we get the much called for encore. ‘Ottolenghi’ featuring Jordan Rakei is the perfect end to a wide-ranging and accomplished set. To quote Loyle Carner, “Take these words and go forwards.”
Brighton Dome, Sunday 5th March 2023
Words by Emma Baker
Photos by Sarah Brownlow
