Archy Marshall has announced that his third album under the King Krule name, Man Alive!, will be released by XL on February 20.
Watch his self-directed video for the song “(Don’t Let The Dragon) Draag On”, influenced by Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 film The Passion Of Joan Of Arc:
Man Alive! was partly recorded at Shrunken Heads in Nunhead, London, with co-producer Dilip Harris, who worked on previous King Krule album The Ooz. Marshall played most of the instruments himself, with saxophone added by Ignacio Salvadores. The album is influenced by Argentinean music and Brazilian bossa nova. “I also listened to the radio, which I never did until recently,” says Marshall. “I don’t like it but I suppose it might influence me a bit.”
The album’s title, he explains, “is an exclamation, about the times we live in. Like, ‘Fucking hell, man!’” However, he adds: “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.”
“This time I felt like I had gotten out of a dark place, and I was on a high,” continues Marshall, whose first daughter Marina was born mid-way through recording the album. “I appreciated the depression, and the low times I’d been through, but I also liked how I felt better in the here and now. So it was about reaching that new plateau.”
Check out King Krule’s tourdates below:
3 March – Brussels, A.B
4 March – Paris, L’Olympia
5 March – Amsterdam, Melkweg
7 March – Copenhagen, K.B Hallen
8 March – Berlin, Columbiahalle
19 March – Dublin, Olympia
21 March – Glasgow, Barrowland
22 March – Manchester, Albert Hall
24 March – London, O2 Academy Brixton
25 March – London, O2 Academy Brixton
2 April – Dallas TX, House of Blues
3 April – Houston TX, White Oak Music Hall
4 April – Austin TX, Stubbs Waller Creek
7 April – Los Angeles CA, Hollywood Palladium
8 April – Oakland CA, Fox Theatre
10 April – Seattle WA, Showbox Sodo
11 April – Portland OR, Roseland Theatre
14 April – Minneapolis MN, First Avenue
15 April – Chicago IL, Riviera Theatre
17 April – Toronto ON, Queen Elizabeth Theatre
18 April – Montreal QC, Mtelus
19 April – Boston MA, House of Blues
21 April – Philadelphia PA, Union Transfer
22 April – Washington DC, 9.30 Club
24 April – Brooklyn NY, Kings Theatre