Review: Loyle Carner’s ‘hopefully!’ – An Introspective Journey Through Fatherhood & Self-Reflection

Loyle Carner stands as one of the most vital and influential voices in contemporary British music. Hailing from South London, the now 30-year-old rapper has spent the past decade building a career defined by emotional vulnerability, lyrical precision, and cultural resonance. From his breakout debut ‘Yesterday’s Gone‘ (2017) to the introspective ‘Not Waving, But Drowning‘ (2019) and the politically charged ‘hugo‘ (2022), Carner has consistently pushed the boundaries of UK hip-hop. Now, he returns with his fourth studio album, ‘hopefully!‘, set for release this Friday – a deeply personal and reflective project that explores fatherhood, legacy, and the quiet hopes we carry through life.

On his fourth studio album ‘hopefully ! ‘, Loyle Carner doesn’t just evolve – he sheds skin. This is a record less about transformation and more about transfiguration: a quiet, brave surrender to change that allows Ben Coyle-Larner to emerge not as a rapper searching for clarity, but as a writer willing to let ambiguity breathe through emotional reflection and self-discovery.

From the first notes of ‘Feel At Home’ – a track introduced by his young son’s playful xylophone taps – it’s clear that ‘hopefully ! ‘ is a family affair in the deepest sense. It isn’t merely an album about fatherhood; it’s an album through fatherhood, shaped in real time by the sleepless poetry of parenthood, the miracle of new life, and the murkier task of staying emotionally present through it all.

The central heartbeat of ‘hopefully ! ‘ is ‘In My Mind’, a track born from a moment of unintended vulnerability. Coaxed by longtime producer Avi Barath into singing a scratch melody that never got replaced, Carner finds a new instrument: his own voice, unfiltered and tentative, yet radiating an understated beauty. Speaking with Amelia Dimoldenberg on ‘Chicken Shop Date‘ this week, Carner revealed that he first considered singing on his tracks after a potential collaboration with Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C. fell through during their message exchanges. The result, however, is authenticity at its core – soulful, indie-tinged, and full of space. It’s a layer of Carner that we hadn’t seen to date, a reflection of his constant elevation as an artist willing to experiment within his art.

The album further touches on some of the difficulties Carner faces as a an artist and a parent, especially in tracks like ‘Horcrux’, where jazz-flecked percussion supports a flurry of tightly wound bars that recasts the tour bus loneliness faced when away from home, and ‘Purpose’, a luminous, lyrical sparring session with Navy Blue that showcases Carner’s enduring knack for barbed introspection.

But the defining quality of ‘hopefully! ‘ isn’t complexity – it’s feeling. These songs reach toward something more elemental than narrative, a documentation of feeling that feels to the listener as an essential part of Loyle’s navigation through fatherhood.

‘All I Need’ chants itself into existence with the mantra-like repetition of its title, layering keys and conviction until it swells into something close to prayer. ‘Lyin’ is a lullaby stretched thin by anxiety, its dreamy imagery turning fear into surrealist poetry. On ‘Don’t Fix It’, featuring the ethereal Nick Hakim, Carner almost disappears into the song’s echoing stillness, a beautiful blend of dreamy vocals with Carner’s laid-back verses embedded into a cocophanous reverbed undertone.

There’s a clear lineage here with ‘hugo‘, Carner’s 2022 exploration of Black identity and paternal estrangement – but where that record was tightly coiled, ‘hopefully ! ‘ is loose-limbed and improvisational. It feels as though with this album, any self-critical artistic opinion has been left outside of the room, allowing pure emotion to shine through the more experimental approaches of the creative process. The difference lies not just in sonic approach but in philosophical intent. Where ‘hugo‘ wrestled with inherited pain, ‘hopefully ! ‘ dares to imagine inherited joy, taking us as the listener on the journey of growing into adulthood together, documenting not only the many beautiful things of growing older but aspects of life that have made the transition phase more difficult.

It’s not without darkness, however. Sirens and Zephaniah ring out in their track, reminding listeners that hope is often born not of naivety, but of necessity. Carner knows the world his son is entering. But he also knows the power of counterweights – melody, light, presence – and uses them deliberately. His self-reflection as a man of high emotional maturity and intelligence is projected through his lyricism throughout the project, acknowledging that many of his personality traits and approaches to life now stem from the idea of going through things for the first time with his son.

The most moving moments are those where Carner lets go of language entirely. On ‘About Time’, the final track, his son’s voice enters once more, babbling against the fading instrumentation. It’s a full-circle gesture, tying back to the first sounds of the album. If ‘Yesterday’s Gone‘ was a goodbye, and ‘hugo‘ a confrontation, then ‘hopefully ! ‘is an embrace of himself, of his family and the unknown.

Loyle Carner has never sounded more at home in his discomfort. As he said himself, rap was a mask; this is something else entirely. Singer, poet, father, producer – ‘hopefully ! ‘ captures a man mid-metamorphosis, and the result is a project that glows with raw humanity. A wholesome reflection of the beauty and struggles faced throughout parenthood, we’re yet again blessed with a brilliant body of art that, above everything else, possesses so much substance. A project his children will be proud of when they grow older, a marvel of a record in fact, and one that dares to believe tomorrow might be gentler.

Rating 4.5/5

‘hopefully ! ‘ releases this Friday, 20th June and will be available to stream on all digital platforms, and vinyls can be found here.