Having gone through three name changes in his career already before settling on King Krule, Archy Marshall releases his debut album ‘6 Feet Beneath The Moon’. So what can one expect from this wispy thin, prominent cheek – boned, ginger kid?
The first thing you notice about King Krule’s debut album in his insanely distinctive voice. Opener Easy Easy with its stripped back sound and gentle guitar playing allows his voice to enter your consciousness. Once there it stays there. Less singer and more of a distinctly British – sounding meandering urban poet, his songs embody a simplistic style where he sounds older, wiser and angrier than his tender 19 years. They have a gently hypnotic effect, even though at times he sounds like a drunken reveller at karaoke who keeps hogging the microphone. That is not to insult that lad as his style works. It has a refreshing honesty and immediacy to it, as if he was so concerned with the subject matter of his songs that it pours out of him into the laid back, bare bones style he has crafted. Baby Blue displays this style perfectly, with its forlorn love lyrics: My sandpaper sigh/ engraves a line/Into the rust of your tongue/I could’ve been someone/To you/Would have painted the skies blue/Baby Blue/If you knew.
And then there are songs where he simply groans and complains. A Lizard State is a departure from the romantic ideals and stripped back style. There is wonderful jazz sampled here, giving the song a life and fullness that stands out from the rest of the album, and the lyrics leave little to the imagination: You f**king Bitch/ You don’t know when to stop/you’re a bunch of f**king fat bitches…f**king fat bitches/Fat Bitches! Cementality debates the pros and cons of throwing yourself out a window onto the cement below, pretty heavy going for a debut album. The lad might be a tad angry. Neptune Estate has wonderful R&B undertones, the album musically expanding as it progresses, a growing sense of confidence emerging in the songs.
6 Feet Beneath The Moon may not be an album you will like on first listen, in fact you might hate it. It’s angry and dark, with a theme of lost love running throughout, seemingly lacking any sort of sophistication or depth. But on your second and third listens it evolves into an elegant and rewarding record, with lyric structure that could come from a book of poetry. Give King Krule a chance, I promise he will reward you.