Loyle Carner says his new album ‘Hugo’ “wouldn’t exist without” driving lessons from his estranged father.
Loyle Carner says reconciling with his dad helped inspire Hugo
The ‘Ottolenghi’ hitmaker third album - and follow up to his 2019 ‘Not Waving, but Drowning’ - was inspired by getting to know his dad after he wasn’t around when he was growing up with his mother Jean, stepfather Nik and little brother Ryan.
The 28-year-old rapper - whose real name is Benjamin Coyle-Larner - told the Daily Star’s Wired Column: “My father taught me to drive during lockdown.
“We spent time in his little red Polo and if it wasn’t for him and those conversations in that car, this album wouldn’t exist.”
Loyle - who welcomed a son in 2020 with his girlfriend - believes the reconciliation has made him a better father and able to find more “joy and happiness”.
He said: “I also wouldn’t be as good a father as I could be, or in a place where I’ve found so much joy and happiness.”
The Mercury Music Prize nominee thinks offering “forgiveness” to his dad is so special because it’s rare in his social circle.
Loyle said: “I really stand behind saying, ‘I forgive you’ to my father on this album, because it’s not something tried and tested in my community. A lot of my friends grew up without their father and the attitude is, ‘Let’s just get on with life on our own, give the money we make to our mums’. It was good that I’ve been able to express forgiveness to my father.”
The Brit School alum shared that his dad is a fan of the LP because “it’s an honest reflection” of their father-son relationship.
Loyle said: “He likes the record because it’s an honest reflection of our reconnection, and it’s not too clean or super-nice about him.”