Photo: Zac Mahrouche
Loyle Carner seems like a nice young man, the type of youngster who'd win your parents over within the first couple minutes of meeting them. "Hey, how's your friend Ben doing? He's such a charming chap." In fact, only a few nights ago, he helped a dad get into his sold out show after they tweeted about dropping their son off and being jealous. "A pops should never have to wait outside. You want me to slap you on the guestlist?"
Carner's charm is in full effect again tonight as he plays his largest London show to date, his close family watching on from a balcony above. The wide eyed wordsmith grips a swarm of young faces in the palm of his hand with ease, stepping out to the rapturous choirs of album opener, 'The Isle Of Arran' and commanding the gig from the very start. "I swear I've been nervous all day about this show, but you lot are making me feel like I'm at home right now."
Back on home turf with a couple of European tours and festival runs under his belt, there's no question that he's perfecting the art and style of his performance. The 22 year old swaggers effortlessly around the stage as clutches his father's Eric Cantona shirt throughout, spitting every lyric with ferocious purpose
A lot of his releases feature understated jazz instrumentation with a laid back delivery, and smoother tracks like "Mean It In The Morning" and "The Seamstress" add a soothing ease to the night as bodies sway and heads nod. But it's bolder cuts like 'No CD', 'Ain't Nothing Changed" and the rapturous 'Tierney Terrace' that truly ignite the crowd tonight. When these larger tracks hit (and there's plenty of them), the venue erupts into a gleeful frenzy and the electricity of the atmosphere is truly palpable.
There's plenty of welcome guest spots throughout from talented album contributors as well, a particular highlight coming from the ever elusive British MC Jehst on the anthem, "No Worries." It's no secret either that Carner's a big fan. "That's my favourite rapper right there. Every time we met I had to stop myself from rapping his verses to him."
With his mum and younger brother watching proudly from the balcony, the night truly feels like a family affair, a coming of age story that the rapper's loyal fans (sorry) are all invited to join. The charismatic artist regularly looks up to his family above, grinning with joy and disbelief for the love that's surging his way from every possible angle. Loyle's fans clearly adore him as much as his music, and every person in attendance has come together to celebrate the success of his debut record, Yesterday's Gone.
With the set drawing to a close and a sold out crowd chanting his name, it's clear this bright young talent can't believe how far he's come. "I'm gonna try and keep it together, but I'm fucking overwhelmed right now." Closing with the heartfelt 'Sun Of Jean', there's one last surprise in store for his mum. A video begins to play of Mrs Jean reciting a beautiful spoken word piece about her "scribble of a boy". "My mum has the best verse on my album." You know what, Loyle? You might just be right.
