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Feb 21, 2020 By Christopher Roberts Photography by Charlotte Patmore King Krule

King Krule (aka British musician Archy Marshall) has released a new album, Man Alive!, today via True Panther/Matador. Now that the album is out, you can stream the whole thing below. Also below are King Krule’s upcoming tour dates.

Plus today we posted our review of Man Alive! and you can read that here.

Previously King Krule shared a self-directed video for the album’s first single ”(Don’t Let the Dragon) Draag On.” Then King Krule shared another song from the album, “Alone, Omen 3,” via a video for the track (which was one of our Songs of the Week). Then he shared one last pre-release single from the album, “Cellular,” via an animated video for the track directed by Jamie Wolfe.

Man Alive! features album versions of all four songs contained in last year’s King Krule short film, Hey World!, that featured Marshall performing the aforementioned “(Don’t Let the Dragon) Draag On” and “Alone, Omen 3,” alongside “Perfecto Miserable” and “Energy Fleets.”

King Krule’s last album was The OOZ, released in October 2017 via True Panther in the U.S. (and XL in the U.K.). (It was one of our Top 100 Albums of 2017.)

Man Alive! was made with The OOZ‘s co-producer Dilip Harris. Marshall performed most of the instruments himself, apart for the saxophone, which was played by Ignacio Salvadores. Marshall began recording in London, but partway through the sessions he found out he was going to be a dad for the first time and moved up to the North West to be close to the family of his baby’s mother.

“I should’ve had it all wrapped up before my daughter was born,” said Marshall in a previous press release. But after his daughter Marina was born in March 2019, Marshall took a few weeks off and then finished the album. “I was still adding tracks until she was about six months old (i.e mid-September),” he said.

Marshall said that getting out of his South London suburban neighborhood was good for him. “It was just the easiness of it. There really is nothing else to do here, especially when it turns to winter. Everyone I know has jobs, whereas I’d sit on my arse all day sometimes not doing anything, then I’d go to the pub with them when they finished work. It became a bit habitual. Then, right in the middle of the record, this big change came in my life that I didn’t really comprehend initially. It was like, ‘Oh, I’d better get my shit together!’ To be honest, I was really glad to get away from all that so I could focus on more pressing matters - like keeping a child alive and stuff.”

Speaking about the album’s themes and lyrics, Marshall said: “More and more, I’ve been put off by the intention of speaking about what’s going on in society as a black-and-white thing, or trying to get to the bottom of why we’re in this position. So the album is mostly made up of snapshots and observations. There are a lot of real-time-and-place moments, songs talking about walking through the park just over there and getting a head injury [don’t ask! - Ed.], then there are other tracks which are just simplicity, looking at one particular situation and reflecting on it as somehow being super-profound.”

Regarding musical influences on Man Alive!, Marshall added: “I’ve been listening to a lot of weird stuff, I guess. There was some Argentinian music, some Brazilian Bossa Nova - I love the way they sing, how soft they are. I also listened to the radio, which I never did until recently. I don’t like it but I suppose it might influence me a bit.”

Read our 2017 interview with King Krule on The OOZ.

King Krule Tour Dates:

2/21 - Bristol, UK @ Rough Trade (Man Alive! Album Launch Show)
2/24 - Leeds, UK @ Beckett University (Man Alive! Album Launch Show)
3/3 - Brussels, Belgium @ A.B
3/4 - Paris, France @ L’Olympia
3/5 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg
3/7 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ K.B Hall
3/8 - Berlin, Germany @ Columbiahalle
3/19 - Dublin, Ireland @ Olympia
3/21 - Glasgow, Scotland @ Barrowland
3/22 - Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
3/24 - London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton
3/25 - London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton
4/2 - Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
4/3 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
4/4 - Austin, TX @ Stubbs Waller Creek
4/7 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium SOLD OUT
4/8 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
4/10 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo
4/11 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre SOLD OUT
4/14 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
4/15 - Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
4/17 - Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
4/18 - Montreal, QC @ Mtelus
4/19 - Boston, MA @ House of Blues
4/21 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
4/22 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club SOLD OUT
4/24 - Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre SOLD OUT
4/25 - New York NY @ Webster Hall SOLD OUT

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