It’s been a while since we’ve heard from everybody’s favourite mopey guitar man, King Krule. The 25-year-old South Londoner, also known as Archy Ivan Marshall, has taken a bit of a backseat lately. He last released a record in 2017 (that was the woozy and very good jazz-rock album The Ooz), followed it up with some live stuff, then slipped back into anonymity for a bit. Back in March he had a little baby with his girlfriend, the photographer Charlotte Patmore, which has probably kept him busy, to be fair.
Since the last album, he’s had a little time to think about what to do next; today, Archy broke that musical silence. He just dropped a 15-minute short film titled Hey World!, directed by Charlotte and featuring four new songs, titled “Perfecto Miserable”, “Alone, Omen 3”, “(Don’t Let The Dragon) Draag On” & “Energy Fleets”. The film, which sees King K strolling across beaches, perched on snowy hilltops and silhouetted by the sunset in the shadows of nuclear power plants, was shot on VHS. There’s also a really nice bit with some black-and-white fireworks.
Alongside that, he’s announced a US and EU tour for 2020! It all kicks off in Brussels on 3rd March and wraps in New York at the end of April. You can nab your tickets here later in the week if you’re keen.
As of today, the four songs that feature in the short film haven’t yet wormed their way onto streaming services. Could they be part of something bigger — an album??? — that could pop up in the near future? With a few months to go until he hits the road, cradling his baby and performing soft guitar rock to his fans, there’s still time for that long-awaited third King Krule record to materialise. Stay tuned.