Loyle Carner - The Isle of Arran

From day one, Loyle Carner has put family values front and centre. The South London rapper made this clear enough on early track ‘BFG’, and his laments on loss (“Everybody says I’m fuckin’ sad/ Of course I’m fuckin’ sad, I miss my fuckin’ dad”) are full of emotion without being overbearing.

New single ‘The Isle of Arran’ is his darkest, most enthralling moment yet. It stares death in the face, eyes level with the abyss, and comes out fighting. Named after the island his late grandad - the main father figure in his life - took residence in, it finds Loyle describing loss in all its grizzly detail. Over an old-school sample, he allows you to peer into an otherwise private grief. He recounts how he scattered ashes and rapped at a funeral service, and he provides an insight into the most painful of experiences. This is as heavy-going as Loyle’s music gets, but the more he inspects a wound, the more he seems to step up a gear.