The singer/songwriter becomes the doomsday poet.
King Krule’s fourth album should not be missing from the series “Records that the world urgently needs right now”. Archy Marshall, as his real name is, reinvents himself a bit on his SPACE HEAVY – as a dark songwriter, doomsday poet, king of slow rock. His topic is the imbalance of the world in the midst of climate catastrophe, war and post-corona crises. “Flimsier” sets the tone at the beginning, the song meanders viscously, Marshall sings sometimes in falsetto, sometimes with a dark timbre: “It’s been holding the weight of the world”.
In “Seaforth” the narrator looks forward to the apocalypse, only love relieves it: “See you, the same eyes / Reflect the world that falls apart / (…) Baby, this faith is all I have”. Stylistically oscillating between singer/songwriter, dark jazz (saxophone) and spoken-word chamber pop (“Wednesday Overcast”), this album deals with the basic feeling of our time: something is coming to an end without us being able to believe in a new beginning. “And if I die / Just throw me in the trash,” Marshall sings logically. When the world is in tragedy, this is the best possible soundtrack.