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Music

Searching for Archy Marshall (AKA King Krule)

He released a new song last night, but he's got a whole host of other material hidden in the depths of the internet.
Ryan Bassil
London, GB

Our new column delves into musicians' HTML attics, searching to see what remains of their earliest forays online. Sometimes there's astonishing early material that has only been heard by a handful of people. Sometimes it's just them being a dick in the comments section of Gawker. Whatever happens though, The Internet is Written in Ink.

Last night, after what seemed like the longest wait for a really delayed flight to paradise, King Krule put out a new track from his debut album, 6 Feet Beneath The Moon. It’s called “Easy Easy”, and you can listen to it above.

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But, while the rest of the blogging world circle-jerked around sharing a link for what they thought was the newest material from Archy Marshall in almost a year, he’s been slowly putting out a slew of creative works under various monikers for several years now.

Let’s take a look.

Lankslacks & Ragfoot freestyle

A lot of artists like to spew media-centric statements about them “doing their own thing” and “if anyone else likes it then that’s just a bonus”. But, the majority of them are also hollowed out instagram filtered souls who like to perpetuate the image of creativity, while molding their soundscapes around someone else and making their money off PA performances at a chain of Lava/Ignite nightclubs across the country. Essentially, King Krule is a master of creativity, adapt at being able to spit over Paul Desmon’s “Nuages” one second, and strumming jazz chords through the streets of Paris the next.

"Watch Over Me" - Zoo Kid & Rago

There’s a line in King Krule’s “Noose of Jah City” that goes “suffocated in concrete / it took a hold of me / put me on repeat”. Which, if I were a PR, would be the first thing I’d be putting on my press release. Because, in the same way that Dizzee Rascal et al. so perfectly captured the sound of growing up in Bow, Archy taps into the other end of the metropolis, assimilating the sounds of predominantly suburban teens, concreted into their home with nothing to do but get stoned and surf YouTube. It sounds bleak. But then again, I guess that’s life when you’re bumping the train from Dulwich to London Bridge on a daily basis.

DJ JD Sports

As easily as he can switch between fog horning minimalistic brilliance - “Out Getting Ribs” - and Mike Skinner referencing mood jazz climaxes - “Rock Bottom” -, Archy also produces ambient soundscapes better than half of the bedroom beat makers. He’s got 24 tracks on his DJ JD Sports soundcloud is a goldmine, if gold was a collection of tangible audio files, with an iridescent array of compositional hues, which had been quietly cashed out of the bank of one of the most intriguing artists to unwittingly arrive in years. (Also that’s surely the best DJ pseudonym since Moet Laureate)

Edgar The Beatmaker

Edgar the Beatmaker is essentially the embedded page between the sativa infused BGM of DJ JD Sports, the neo-jazz sensibilities of King Krule and the dutty inner city rawness of Zoo Kid. Which is to say that it’s probably one of the most unique beat tapes to be placed on the internet. It’s got the jazz sensibilities of a West Egg apartment filled with the scent of lemon haze and North Face jackets. He’s got three separate tapes under Edgar the Beatmaker, which probably brings his total output to more than that of at least half of the artists featured in NME this week.

Zoo Kid

Although there are a couple of Zoo Kid tracks where he spits, the majority are beautifully desolate compositions fronted by the sort of voice that’ll make the listener question exactly how many hairs they have on the back of their neck. It’s probably the reason that he’s been the subject of a myriad of “How can I get in touch with Archy Marshall???” tweets from the likes of Tyler, The Creator, Earl Sweatshirt and Mac Miller. When I met him, I asked him if he knew that the aforementioned had reached out, to which he nonchalantly shrugged, and said “Yeah, man.”. Which, in essence, is a perfect example of the imperturbable brilliance of King Krule. An artist who, despite shouldering enough hype to fuel several years worth of careers, continues to do his own thing, unruffled.

Follow Ryan on Twitter @RyanBassil

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Tagged:FeaturesKing Krule:new trackArchy MarshallZoo KidEdgar The BeatmakerDJ JD Sports6 Feet Beneath The MoonEasy EasyRagoJesse JamesMusicNoisey
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