Archy Marshall - A New Place 2 Drown

Since 2010 Archy Marshall has been uploading various tracks of the experimental flavour to his bandcamp under the alias Zoo Kid. From his early grimey blues like U.F.O.W.A.V.E - a collection of minimally produced guitar scrawls to his most polished full length album '6 Feet Beneath The Moon'. Since then he's undergone some serious changes. He adopted the name King Krule, a somewhat more memorable and harsher name than his soft almost cuddly name. His band members during his time as King Krule have no place on this new album too. And to top it all off Marshall has produced the likes of DJJD Sports and Edgar The Beat Maker but now he returns with a whole new concept.

'A New Place 2 Drown' is a multimedia effort. It's a ten minute documentary, a 208 page art and poetry book and this album a 37 minute soundtrack. Marshall is joined by his brother Jack. Who helped Marshall with the visual side of King Krule. He designed the artwork for '6 Feet Beneath The Moon' inspired by the likes of Sin City sketcher Frank Miller. Musically, 'A New Place 2 Drown' is very experimental with lots of artificial sounds thrown in to create a sound that is the perfect metaphor for what music could sound like if it was made by robots. The album is extremely vibrant. "The Sea Liner MK1" is very simple. It's two notes played on a synth with a rudimentary electronic drum beat which is almost entirely instrumental apart from the final minute.

"6 Feet Beneath The Moon"

The poems that feature within the entire collection sometimes feature in the lyrics on the album. In the book there are scattered images with lines from the poems. Lyrically, it's quite dark. The tone of voice throughout the album is very monotone and low as we've heard on his various other releases. It's also very mysterious. It fades in and out amongst the sounds creating a very uneasy feel but it's very interesting. The experimentation doesn't just stop at the sounds heard. Marshall also uses various samples for example on track "Sex With Nobody" he uses some spoken word sampled from what sounds like an old television program.

When "6 Feet Beneath The Moon" came out, there was a lot said about the fact that he had found his definitive sound. "A New Place 2 Drown" completely throws this in the opposite direction. It sounds so different. It's extremely minimal but at the same time there's a lot going on. It might be a slow burner, but it definitely stands out.

"A New Place 2 Drown"

Rating - 7.5/10

Thursday, 10 December 2015