Archy Marshall, who first popped onto peoples radars under the name Zoo Kid has been making waves for a couple years now, and for good reason. By not only proving his musical skill through smooth and slender guitar melodies, his voice is also a force to be reckoned with. When you look back at some of the biggest vocalists of past generations like Frank Sinatra, sure his voice was smooth, but it wasn’t it’s lushness that drew people in, it was the prescence of his voice that was so powerful. No matter the backing instrumentation, as soon as Sinatra’s voice began to meander over tracks, you knew it was him. Archy Marshall, a.k.a King Krule functions with the same musical prowess. I dare you to find one vocalist in 2013 that has more vocal presence than King Krule. His debut album 6 Feet Beneath The Moon is a bit of a mixed bag genre-wise, but is all brought together with the strong but soulful voice of Marshall.
A native of London, Marshall began writing under the moniker Zoo Kid and released the singles “Out Getting Ribs” and “Baby Blue” before changing his name and moving to XL. Inspired by the Donkey Kong Country character “King K. Rool”, True Panther saw the release of his first EP, which showcased gentle tracks like “The Noose of Jah City” as well as some more energetic tracks like “Portrait in Black and Blue”. 6 Feet Beneath The Moon houses a similar mix of tracks. Soulful ballads like “Bathed In Grey” and “Cementality” are mirrored by livelier tracks like “A Lizard State” or “Easy Easy”, making for a mix of tracks that explore many avenues while still heading in the same direction. King Krule’s guitar work on 6 Feet Beneath The Moon is as smooth and beautiful as always, with the riffs lining songs like “Border Line” getting stuck in an infinite loop inside your head. Other earworm riffs present themselves in songs like “Ocean Bed” and “Baby Blue”. However, guitar isn’t Marshall’s only musical vessel; a fair amount of electronics appear on 6 Feet Beneath The Moon, which comes as no surprise after his collaboration with Mount Kimbie earlier this year. Tracks like “Foreign 2” are lined with synth chords and arpeggiated rhythms, but work just as well as any of Marshall’s guitar-based tracks. The short interlude “Will I Come” even makes use of pitch-shifted vocal samples to drive the melody, which works very well. Drum machines are more present than ever on 6 Feet Beneath the Moon, which is unlike his previous efforts which saw singles like “Portait in Black and Blue” and last years “Rock Bottom” using real drums, but doesn’t take away from the infectious melodies of some of these tracks.
Marshall has always been fond of using the colour blue thematically in his compositions, and 6 Feet Beneath The Moon is no exception. With “Baby Blue” being an obvious example and is also one of his oldest compositions, originally written while he was still Zoo Kid. This song, along with many others off the record are infused with King Krule’s melancholic coloured theme. “Will I Come” features the line “girl don’t stay around and bathe with me in blue”, the album ender “Bathed in Grey” has “ I see things simple, but it only rekindles these darkest shades of blue”. Not to mention “Portrait in Black and Blue” off his previous EP. Aside from the frequent appearance of this theme, Marshall also has a knack for some very poetic lyrics. “Neptune Estate” is likely the best example of King Krule’s wordplay, with lines like “corrosively tread through emotionally spoon fed purpose, Hel me as the worthless”, which not only sounds poetically pleasing, but references the Norse Goddess of the Dead, not something that every 19-year old songwriter sings about. King Krule brings these phonetically pleasing lyrical phrases through many other tracks off 6 Feet Beneath The Moon, like “Border Line” or “Ceiling”.
King Krule is one of the few singer/songwriters that have a distinct and unique sound, and considering the fact that he is only 19, it likely means that a world takeover is inevitable. While Marshall’s voice may not have the same soft timbres as singers like Sinatra or Bing Crosby, it has a huge presence. He is 2013’s equivalent of a crooner, and 6 Feet Beneath The Moon is the perfect showcase of his voice. From the opener “Easy Easy”, which was written when Marshall was only 12, to the ender “Bathed In Grey”, 6 Feet Beneath The Moon comes full circle, making it one of the most enjoyable listens of 2013, and still just the start to this South Londoner’s career. Let’s hope for his sake that there will be some modern-day bobby soxers following him soon.
Rating: 4.15/5
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