I'm holding this album in my hand.
It's real. I have my pre-ordered CD copy sitting on my shelf. It's filed in between Kanye West and The Kissaway Trail.
I'm looking at the cover. I see Archy Marshall, depicted in the art that his brother, Jack Marshall, has painted for his début 6 Feet Beneath the Moon, as he does for all King Krule related projects.
Back at Pitchfork Music Festival 2012, there were three artists that impressed me the most. Those three artists were Dirty Beaches, King Krule and Willis Earl Beal. In 2013, Dirty Beaches released the brilliant Drifters / Love Is the Devil and Willis Earl Beal has a new album slated for release on September 10th (titled Nobody knows.). But at the moment, it's time for King Krule.
King Krule is the project of just-turned 19 year old Londoner, Archy Marshall. I first discovered Marshall in 2011 (through constant CMJ coverage), and realized it was the same person who had recorded music under the moniker, Zoo Kid. As Zoo Kid, Marshall had numerous breakout tracks, like "Out Getting Ribs" and "Baby Blue". He went quiet for awhile, and I unfortunately lost track of him. One of the things that was so impressive about Marshall, when he was 16, was his voice: a low, untrained, heart stopping baritone (recalling both Leonard Cohen and Billy Bragg), with lyrics that were even more mature than artists twice his age. He also recalls Bright Eyes mastermind, Conor Oberst, in aesthetic (hey, I like Bright Eyes. Fevers and Mirrors, I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, and Letting Off the Happiness are some of the greatest albums ever).
So, about a month after CMJ 2011, Marshall released a self titled EP, that was much different compared to his work as Zoo Kid. Instead of taut, jerky guitars, the EP held more of a jazz influenced sound, with more bass, dub keys and 808 drums while all blanketed in reverb. Also surprising, Marshall became even more mature with his lyrical content, instead of railing against of "fat bitches", he used concrete and nooses as a metaphor for disaffection of people his age in London.
In October of 2012, Marshall then released the "Rock Bottom" b/w "Octopus" single. The former, written when he was only 14 (!) sounded much like a Zoo Kid song, but much more fleshed out. The latter however, showcased significant growth, it being a much more ambient song, featuring an underscoring saxophone. The single featured the two sides of King Krule, in both lyrics and instrumentation.
The album begins with "Easy Easy", a song featuring only two guitar lines and Marshall's lone voice. It's similar to the "Noose of Jah City" in ideas, but it's much angrier. Marshall wails, his voice cracks and warbles as he sings lines such as "now you spend your evenings searching for another life", is stopped by the "bobbies" (what the police are referred to in Britain) and rails against Tesco's supermarket. When he delivers a line like "when you're going through hell, we just keep going", it can be viewed as a cliché, but with his brooding voice, it's delivered with sincerity.
The album follows a bit of a groove, with quiet, somber songs. Marshall once described his music as "bluewave for the 50s, with a rockabilly voice. Some ambient shit". Album highlight "Border Line" follows this mantra, with a slight dub influence (listen to that percussion!) and a hook that gets me every time ("and the soul... chokes"). This dub influence returns close to the end of the album, with "The Krockadile" as Marshall declares "I know you're fake, cause I'm the same".
Similar to the way Conor Oberst had his vocabulary of mirrors, fevers, scales and clocks throughout his albums, Marshall does the same. However for him, it's grey, blue, bathed and girl. Take "Baby Blue", a reworked version of an original Zoo Kid song, with a lone guitar and drums that sound that they're like rewinding. "For you, would have painted the skies blue, baby blue", Marshall sings. It's a love song, but unfortunately, as it always the case for Marshall, it doesn't work out.
Luckily, Marshall offers certain songs that are a change of pace, from the more mellow and somber songs. There's the reworked version of the sweeping and orchestral like, "Has This Hit?" where Marshall decides that "[he doesn't] deserve history repeating itself". You feel for him. There's also a reworked version of "A Lizard State", which was probably my favorite Zoo Kid song. Now during the chorus, instead of one of the best bass lines ever, the party's crashed by a maniac sax section, in the best way possible. The saxophone squall adds extra venom to Marshall almost screaming "you're all a bunch of fat bitches, motherfucking fat bitches!" Why "A Lizard State" works so well (sorry Jayson Greene, I severely disagree with your opinion of this song), is because of the two parallels that Marshall occupies in it. From the stinging and angry verse, to the more sad and confessional chorus, where Marshall sings "I still feel the pain, of you not loving me the same".
Marshall is also an avowed fan of hip-hop and has cited the late J-Dilla as an influence. This is prominent on the song "I Will Come", which begins with a sample from The Wicker Man and builds itself up from there, similar to Dilla's work. On "Foreign 2", Marshall rides a stuttering 8-bit sample, underscored by a saxophone while Marshall repeats the line "isolated heritage" throughout. But it's on the album's second single, "Neptune Estate", that Marshall's vision of jazz and hip-hop is realized. The backbone of the track is a hip-hop sounding breakbeat and again, the saxophones return, but this time, they swell, ebb and flow, leading to the emotion of the song. Marshall's voice is run through different filters, and the way he approaches his lyrics are similar to any of your favorite rappers: "the brain lives on but the vibes are dead / Corrosively tread through emotionally spoon-fed purpose".
The second to last song on the album, is a reworked version of Marshall's breakout song as Zoo Kid, "Out Getting Ribs". And it still remains one of his best songs. Through taut jazz chords strummed from a cheap sounding guitar, Marshall delivers some of his bleakest lyrics yet: "hate runs through my blood", "I'm beaten down and blue", "I can't escape my own escape". That false ending, which leads to the chords struck with more gusto and reverb, still sounds amazing. The album then finally ends with "Bathed in Grey", a song similar to the more somber tracks, with looped jazz keys coursing throughout. It's not exactly a hopeful ending, following the rest of the bleakly colored album. Marshall sings "I can't say what's right but understand the pain enslaves / it hasn't hit me as easily as some might say".
Marshall's a personable artist. Throughout his songs, he focuses more on feelings that stem from certain events rather than stories themselves, making his music the perfect post anything record. Post breakup, post loss, etc. In interviews, Marshall has displayed his intent that he wants someone to hear his music and say "yeah man, I feel the same way", which is what I do, and what I'm sure many others do too. 6 Feet Beneath the Moon is very nocturnal, very subtle, therefore, it requires multiple listens for it to really sink in. A track like "Ceiling" may seem boring at first, but fits perfectly in the context of the rest of the album. So like I said with Dirty Beaches' Drifters / Love Is the Devil and how I feel with Willis Earl Beal's Acousmatic Sorcery, 6 Feet Beneath the Moon is that kind of record that you keep to yourself, and treasure for a long time. Marshall has made the best début of 2013, and possibly the best album overall, due to his incredible amount of emotion and passion. And sometimes, that's all you need.
King Krule - 6 Feet Beneath the Moon
9.5/10
Recommended Tracks - Despite the considerably high rating above, this album isn't perfect. However, all 14 tracks are an essential listen, to fully comprehend King Krule's vision. Listen to all, you won't be disappointed.
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