Live Review: Loyle Carner - O2 Brixton Academy, London 03/11/2025
In a momentous, triumphant and heartfelt performance in Brixton, South London’s finest Loyle Carner came full circle. The visionary jazz-poet was at the peak of his powers, wearing his heart on his sleeve, bouncing off the limitless energy of the crowd and the instrumental flair of his bandmates, and spitting bar after witty, introspective bar.
This Monday was the second night of a mega four-show stint at the legendary O2 Academy Brixton. Touring his fourth studio album hopefully !, Loyle Carner (real name Ben Coyle-Larner) joined global music royalty of The Clash, Debbie Harry, The Prodigy and Bob Dylan in hosting record-breaking consecutive nights at the South London venue. Proof of his perennial popularity in the capital, it was nearly two years to the day from his 2023 birthday show at a sold-out Royal Albert Hall, which in May last year was released as the sensational live album hugo: reimagined. This full band sound was the foundation for hopefully !, crafting a brighter indie-influenced sound with his friends and bandmates that pushed Ben’s honest lyricism towards wistful reflections on himself, fatherhood and the future. Consolidating Loyle Carner’s decade-long career into one show would always be a challenge, yet through the prism of hopefully !, the hope and hardship woven throughout the rapper’s discography was distilled into an energetic, intensely moving performance.
The evening began with the heavenly voice of French-Martinican singer-songwriter Léa Sen cascading across the former theatre and cinema. Her soft instrumental textures and charming art-pop quickly won over the rapidly growing crowd, but it wasn’t long before her final applause and the night marched on.
Next onstage was Navy Blue, the alias of Brooklyn-based rapper Sage Elsesser, bringing a confident swagger to the azure-lit stage. He was joined by his enigmatic emcee Ali, who provided stellar backing vocals whilst spinning a range of throwback-tinged beats. Introducing his 2020 track ‘1491’, the crowd morphed into an instrument at Elsesser’s beckon call as we chanted along “Fuck Christopher Columbus!”. Performing on the biggest stage of his career, he ruminated “[it’s] like I just threw y’all my diary… it ain’t easy to do this shit”. An array of soulful tracks from the Brooklyn rapper coalesced into his melodic final offering ‘La Noche’, with the audience again singing along “I hope you find peace of mind on your own”. Navy Blue ended his set in wholesome style, exclaiming “make some noise for the most important person in the world: your mother.”
With glimmering lights shining down on them, Loyle Carner and his band sauntered on stage with the emphatic ‘all i need’. Dressed down in a green jacket and pale grey hoodie, Ben cut a lowkey figure, juxtaposing the immense roars of an audience clamouring over his rhythmic flows and jazzy beats. Following straight into the lo-fi ‘in my mind’, the crowd pulsated to the downtempo groove. Embracing not just beats but a full-band sound of guitars, keys, bass and a full drumkit, the indie-influenced sound of the rappers fourth album hopefully ! was at its best in live performance. Each guitar riff vibrated and hummed with human resonance, the bass rumbled and permeated all it could find, and at the front-left of the stage Richard Spaven on the drums was a performative sight to behold, and a joy to hear. The jungle-influenced snares of ‘horcrux’ saw the drummer truly let loose later in the set, and across the entire setlist he brought immense energy and dynamism to the performance. Yet as blaring horns heralded the beginning of ‘Ain’t Nothing Changed’, it was also clear that even Loyle Carner’s older tracks had been reworked to incorporate a vibrant full band sound, breathing new vitality into nearly decade-old songs.
“You know this one?” Ben asks as his band start to play ‘Damselfly’, an excellent collaboration with songwriter, producer and jazz guitar virtuoso Tom Misch that remains a stalwart of Loyle’s setlist eight years later. In Brixton, the track ends with a crowd-rousing solo from guitarist Raquel Martins – herself a talented singer-songwriter and producer – who wields her blazing red Stratocaster with poise and intensity. Two tracks later, it’s pianist Finn Carter who takes the spotlight. After concluding the NHS-dedicated ‘Homerton’, a reference to the hospital where Ben’s son was born in 2020, an addendum to the original recorded version saw Carter take an emotive, extended solo. Amid twinkling keys, the audience were lost in his brilliance, which seamlessly transitioned into the piano riff of ‘Nobody Knows’ to even greater cheers.
Tender emotion came to the fore in the next track ‘lyin’, Ben’s self-proclaimed scariest song. Since his breakout with the mercury-nominated, grief and joy probing Yesterday’s Gone in 2017, Loyle Carner has been known for the emotional vulnerability he pours into his lyricism, and tonight was no different. Playing through his favourite song ‘Still’, Ben’s soul was laid bare amid lines such as “I still try not to lie, still lie / Still trying not to cry, still cry”. Touching moments were dotted throughout his entire set, from the hard-hitting fan-favourite ‘Loose Ends’ to the Sampha collaboration ‘Desoleil (Brilliant Corners)’, and Navy Blue’s return to sit at the front of stage with Loyle for his verse on ‘purpose’. Yet ‘lyin’ exhibits the greater vulnerability that made hopefully ! so special, taking the leap to exploring Ben’s singing voice in the chorus. Over soft acoustic guitar and laid-back drums, nearly 5,000 of us joined in, creating a moment of pure togetherness, a solidarity in unity that truly represents all that Loyle Carner stands for.
“We’re near the top of the mountain… To be in Brixton academy, to be in South means everything to me,” the rapper mused before launching into ‘Speed Of Plight’, a testament to the whirlwind of a world we live in, and the part of London that Loyle grew up in as a younger man. Earlier in the Brixton riot-referencing ‘Yesterday’, he quipped “No doubt, I was raised in the South”. Home and growth were ever-present across the evening, both being major influences on hopefully !. “Kids are so immediate: they only think in now,” explains Ben, mentioning how his son was in the studio throughout the album’s creation. “This next song is dedicated to my heroes: my son and my beautiful daughter”, he says, launching into ‘about time’. Triumphant, iconic, goosebump-inducing: the track, a ball of warming positivity, came to an end with a snippet of a conversation between Ben and his son.
One song remained, the everlasting ‘Ottolenghi’, still Loyle’s most popular song since its release with 2019’s Not Waving, But Drowning. The fusion of the blissful, spacious beat with Carner’s immersive lyrical storytelling and Jordan Rakei’s soothing chorus vocals have made the song a cult classic. It comes with one small change in the second verse, as Ben’s ponderings over having children in the future is replaced with celebratory affirmations: “I know my son, yeah he’s as clever as his mum”. Contemplating leaving the stage after their final song, Ben has a word with his keys player Aviram Barath, himself a creative force behind hopefully !. Instead, an encore ensues of ‘A Lasting Place’, where back again comes Spaven’s killer drums, Carter’s drifting keys, and the energy in the room was electric. The entire audience dancing on their feet, Ben leapt into the crowd to throw shapes, give hugs and dap up grinning audience members in the pit below.
The crowd deafening, an elated, breathless Loyle Carner declared “[it’s] the best it’s ever been” before saying goodnight to the audience.
Meaningful storytelling that tugs at your heartstrings, that’s what defines the South London wordsmith. As Loyle Carner’s four-day stint of Brixton performances comes to an end and he heads to Dublin, Scotland and Northern England, with shows across Oceania, the Middle East, and America to come, Ben and his whole band can be proud that every concertgoer will go home with an emotional story of their own, that they will cherish forever.
Words by Taran Will
Photo Credit: @eljaybriss
