Archy Marshall has been refining his woozy, washed-out sounds since he emerged back in 2010. With each release under his King Krule moniker, he has shown a proclivity for deeply emotive, expansive musicality steeped in urban loneliness. Since his last album as King Krule, 2017’s Mercury-nominated The Ooz, Marshall and his partner have had a child and moved out of London – he seems happier, lighter for it.
Like its predecessors, Man Alive! was recorded at night, and it swims languorously with romance and tenderness, deftly pulling sonics from jazz, post-punk, soul and dubstep. Through the dreamlike wails of sax and scuzz, optimism seeps through. “The rain will pass in time,” he advises on Alone, Omen 3. Marshall’s grizzled vocals ebb and flow, from lamenting “another lonely night” to declaring “you’re my everything” on Perfecto Miserable. On closing track Please Complete Thee, he despairs about “everything just constantly letting me down” over charged synths and pining guitar reverb, before the tone shifts to something more uplifting and twinkling. The final refrain of “please complete me” carries a powerful sense of hope – an end befitting an album that finds King Krule hitting a new stride.
