Conscious hip-hop tracks in their empathetic form are somewhat of a lost art in the current scene. Though the days of The Streets spitting relatably downtrodden tales of love and lost are in themselves lost, something of their form modern has appeared suddenly of similar origins. The ever-lyrical Londoner, Loyle Carner rarely puts out music that doesn’t ignite a deeper train of thought, and with the addition of a very emotionally-evoking chorus from New-Zealand-Australia-UK transcendentalist, Jordan Rakei and a cool-toned keyboard riff, Ottelenghi gets its listener's mind on the mellow, the moody, and the necessarily blue. 

 

A welcome autumn track aesthetically and contextually, the new single is one of Carner’s only releases since last year’s debut album, Yesterday’s Gone, and is equally fitting of the mellow, jazz-influenced world of modern British music as it is fitting of the cooling weather. Inventive, respectful, and likely influential, Carner and Rakei should truly consider further exploring this collaboration.