Following on from the searing, critically hailed “Hate”, comes the powerful, commanding sweep of “Georgetown”, a track which sees Loyle Carner continue to boldly and bravely explore new dimensions, not only in his music but in his personal history as well.
As with “Hate”, Carner moves beyond the upbeat infectiousness of the Top 3 album
“Not Waving, But Drowning” to tackle with potent, laserlike focus the social fissures and injustices he sees developing around him on both a global and personal level. The
result is “Georgetown”, a visceral examination fuelled by white hot frustration, fear and
anger which mirrors the landscape it maps – a place of isolation, loss, confusion,
danger, creativity, defiance and hope. Produced by the widely renowned and universally celebrated hip-hop producer Madlib, the new single sees Carner meditate on how his mixed-race identity has shaped his life experiences and journey as a musician. “Georgetown” also opens and closes with a sample of the poem “Half-caste” performed and written by the mixed-race Guyanese poet John Agard.
It comes accompanied with a video shot in the titular location in Guyana, South America and is directed by Machine Operated.
In Carner’s words:
“Black like the key on the piano, white like the key on the piano”
John Agard’s poem “Half-caste” had a heavy impact on me. To see someone who was
older, that looked like me, sharing a reflection of a similar lived experience made me
feel comfortable/proud to not fit in. It kinda gave me the permission to finally write
explicitly about being mixed. There's so much beauty in the gaps in-between, and in
some ways this song touches on that. For me, it’s about finding this inner confidence
through understanding of self, and spending time back home. It is a representation of
finally feeling like one whole person instead of two halves. Also another piece of the
MADloyle puzzle. More on the hard drive.
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