King Krule

King KruleÊ(formerly known as Zoo Kid, born as Archy Marshall in SE London) captures the startling voice of an emerging generation of young Londoners; his unexpectedly deep and mournful baritone tracing disappointment and disorientation to devastating effect. Despite being only 17 years old, the EP also introduces us to a stunningly talented lyricist. The follow-up to his debut single "Out Getting Ribs" this EP demonstrates expansion of vision, both musically and thematically. The connective tissue between these five tracks is still Marshall's stark, direct lyrics, but over the span of the self-titled EP, there is an arresting sonic progression, as his songs open up to become a loose knit meditation and renewal of hope in the face of desperation. Shades of The Streets' plainspoken and observant ramble dance with the heart on sleeve confessions/cultural critiques of Billy Bragg. Archy's influences are a patchwork for his voice to lay in, woven from several generations music as divergent as the 80s romantics, jazz, no wave and dub. The first vocal track 'Bleak Bake', for instance, opens with levitating keyboards and Marshall clearing his throat, before sampled strings and 808 drum 'pooms' swoon in and he sighs. 'The Noose of Jah City' drives the knife in deeper -some of his most intoxicating incantations to date- with Marshall singing of being "suffocated in concrete" over a lushly upholstered backdrop of chiming guitars and shuffling sampled beats. While in the gorgeous 'Portrait in Black and Blue' he unleashes a bounding piece of classic croon. Taken as a whole, the "King Krule" EP is the sound of a young man growing up and attempting to grapple with the realities of the world he inhabits, and a fascinating, brutal journey it is too.