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Aug 11, 2020 By Christopher Roberts King Krule

King Krule (aka British musician Archy Marshall) released a new album, Man Alive!, in February via True Panther/Matador. Now he has shared a creepy video for the album’s “Comet Face” that was shot in a London park at night and features a werewolf and perhaps zombies. CC Wade directed the video, which was written by Wade and Jack Marshall and features cameo’s from King Krule’s backing band. Watch it below.

King Krule has also released a new “Comet Face” T-shirt and print (get both at his website).

In February 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. In April King Krule shared a live performance video that was a segment from Echoes, a live music performance show for French TV channel Arte that’s hosted by Jehnny Beth of Savages.

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.

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