![]() Marshall appears as a guest on one track from the duo Mount Kimbie’s recent album, Love What Survives. “I love her but she’ll get bored.” He cuts himself off mid-verse with a scoff, like he’s just lost a life. “She writes to me but does not come abroad, that’s why I guess she can’t be my broad,” he rhymes. He raps in a deep monotone about the dead seed of a relationship. Two minutes slip by before Marshall takes the mic. The sleek drums come in and realign the bass notes to bridge each bar to the next, a rhythmic sleight-of-hand trick. The pixelated protagonist scrolls right until the screen stops following and a door shuts behind him, descending notes heralding a new foe that has yet to drop into view. The ominous bass that opens this ANP2D track sounds like the overture to a video-game boss battle. Then, the clouds part, and a bright ray of a guitar lick shines through. Marshall unleashes the ugliest edges of his voice-at the song’s climax, he bellows “I know when I look into the sky, there is no meaning.” The guy literally wrote a song called “Rock Bottom,” but this one truly sounds like the desperate end of something. The guitar and bass fidget anxiously, never quite settling into place. “Oh yeah, I know him, he’s the British Guy Who Yells.” The drums rumble in the distance, the splashy cymbals doubling in time like approaching storm clouds. This is a good King Krule song that doubles as a perfect parody of a King Krule song. He repeats the title of the album like a mantra, relishing his discovery while the keys twinkle around him. The high and low reach an uneasy middle point, like a cup of hot tea loaded with ice cubes. He doubles his vocals at two distinct octaves. Rather than complement it with mall-ready synths, Marshall plays a simple, circular keyboard. “Swell’s” straightforward electronic drums sound like the fitting room of a European fast fashion store. “To cause the tide, to enforce divide, this whole devotion has morphed in time.” It’s like he’s bragging about curing a stutter, even as the last bubbles of air leave his throat. “The soul is broken down, borderlines,” he sings. Marshall’s thick accent chops his vowel sounds into a uniform powder that collaborator Earl Sweatshirt surely appreciates. The narrator imagines his body sinking to the bottom of the sea, but it feels darkly ironic rather than hopelessly morose. The rhythm section actually swings, and a wood block ticks, reverberating from deep in the mix. One of King Krule’s most upbeat tracks begins with a sloppy slide down bass frets that introduces a sprightly guitar pattern. During this bitter chorus, the drums stomp in at last-the pounding is cavernous, like a heartbeat in an embarrassed face. Just as quickly, his heart is broken, and he claims he was only lusting after a lie. “I suit you, ’cause I could be you and I could show you true,” he sings then wonders why his subject keeps running away. The inverted guitar chords strut along the first verse, as the lyrics veer from a pick-up pun to sudden intimate disclosures. This track from his 2011 self-titled EP is a fumbling attempt at flirtation. “Spastic gyrations in abbreviated bathing suits.” Marshall distills the compulsion of young lust to five words, then zooms into the perspective of someone caught in its throes. And why bother, that could be you on the other side of the counter, waiting to burst out “there’s no need to take that tone.” This song is British as hell: Marshall name drops Tesco, Bobbies, and concludes by paraphrasing Winston Churchill, “If you’re going through hell, you just keep going.” The song wraps up with a ritardando, slowing from the shout of the chorus to the mumble of finishing up in a phone booth. You can’t even find the receipt amongst the detritus to raise a fuss. All you want is to eat your pre-made supermarket sandwich in peace, until you notice it’s too old to be edible. To catch up on his work thus far, here is a playlist of 13 tracks that summarize the unique talent of King Krule.Īccompanied by propulsive eighth notes on a single guitar string, Marshall endures harassment by police, dissatisfaction with his job, and general urban malaise. ![]() The title is apt for the singer’s post-genre style-he creates a mix of jazz, rock, hip-hop, and dub that feels like a product of the online era, yet simultaneously as ancient as a primordial stew. On October 13, British musician King Krule (born Archy Marshall) will release his third studio album, The Ooz.
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