• News

• All

Jan 14, 2020 By Christopher Roberts Photography by Charlotte Patmore King Krule

King Krule (aka British musician Archy Marshall) has announced a new album, Man Alive!, and shared a self-directed video for its first single “(Don’t Let the Dragon) Draag On.” Man Alive! is due out February 21 via True Panther/Matador. It 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” alongside “Perfecto Miserable,” “Alone, Omen 3,” and “Energy Fleets.” Check out the “(Don’t Let the Dragon) Draag On” video below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art. Also below are King Krule’s upcoming tour dates.

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.)

The “(Don’t Let the Dragon) Draag On” video was inspired by Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc.

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,” says Marshall in a 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 says.

Marshall says 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 says: “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 adds: “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.

Man Alive! Tracklist:

1. Cellular
2. Supermarché
3. Stoned Again
4. Comet Face
5. The Dream
6. Perfecto Miserable
7. Alone, Omen 3
8. Slinky
9. Airport Antenatal Airplane
10. (Don’t Let The Dragon) Draag On
11. Theme For The Cross
12. Underclass
13. Energy Fleets
14. Please Complete Thee

King Krule Tour Dates:

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
4/8 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
4/10 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo
4/11 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre
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
4/24 - Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre

Support Under the Radar on Patreon.