It’s been almost three years since Loyle Carner found mainstream success by the way of his 2017 debut album, Yesterday’s Gone. The album was critically acclaimed overseas, as it was named the album of the year by The Independent, nominated for the 2017 Mercury Prize, and helped him land additional nominations at that year’s Brit Awards. Nowadays, the South Londoner is sticking to the same script that brought him fame, one he presents once again on his new Madlib-produced single, “Yesterday.”
Carner released the track with a reflective video attached. The visual starts with Loyle reimagining his childhood by holding a baby in his arms that represents himself at a younger age. As the narrative continues, viewers see the rapper grow from a young boy to a grown man as the video ends with a full-circle moment with the man, played by his Carner’s younger brother, holding a baby of his own in his arms. He alluded to this moment in the video in a tweet that announced the visual’s release. “Everything comes full circle,” he says. “Shouts to Madlib and My little brother.”
The new song is Carner’s latest release since he shared his sophomore album Not Waving, But Drowning back in April 2019. The rapper gave fans a week to prepare for the new song after he posted a tweet that read, “F*ck it, new music next week. Who’s here?” He also shouted out producer Madlib after the release of “Yesterday” by quoting one of the song’s lyrics in a tweet saying, “LC AND MADLIB IT’S MADLOYLE.”
You can watch the video for “Yesterday” above.