King Krule Album Review:

The OOZ

words by Kyra Bruce

Archy Marshall has been making music for years under many different names: Zoo Kid, King Krule, and his own name. Earlier this month he released his sophomore album under the name King Krule, The OOZ. The album is deeply intimate and feels like Archy is inviting us to take a look inside his head. The album is an opportunity to see intense emotions like depression, anger, love, and loneliness through his eyes.

The OOZ creates entire rich, velvety worlds that are expansive, deep, and surreal. It stirs up images of being stranded in the middle of a deep ocean covered in perpetual darkness, it feels like walking home drunk and alone through an empty dark blue-tinted city, it sounds like a soundtrack of a film noir and a cyber punk film at the same time.

The OOZ is deeply lonely and personal, it feels more like a diary than an album at points. Some songs like "Bermondsey Bosom (Left)" and "Bermondsey Bosom (Right)" and "Sublunary" feel like vague musical sketches and not full songs. While other songs like "Vidual" and "The Locomotive" are intense nightmare-ish songs that would fit in on a “Spooky Sounds” CD. Don’t get me wrong, this album fits together seamlessly, it is beautiful, experimental, and totally nails what it was going for.

Archy fuses jazz, chill hip-hop, smooth post-punk, and moody rock flawlessly in The OOZ. These genres combine to create a haunting and full sound with nothing wasted, every sound in every song is a deliberate effort to spark an emotion in the listener. The guitar is emotive, the percussion is bottomless and full, the bass lines are overpowering, and of course Archy’s vocals are deep and demanding.

This album is perfect fall/winter music, and it is the most interesting new release I have heard in a while. Do yourself a favor and put on a sweater, put your headphones in, and click below to listen to The OOZ start to finish. It really is an incredible album.