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Archy Ivan Marshall (born 24 August 1994), also known by his stage name King Krule, among other names, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, rapper and record producer. He began recording music in 2010 under the moniker Zoo Kid. The following year he adopted his present name. He has released several EPs and his debut full-length album, ''
6 Feet Beneath the Moon ''6 Feet Beneath the Moon'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Archy Marshall under the stage name King Krule. It was released on 24 August 2013, Marshall's nineteenth birthday, via True Panther Sounds and XL Recordings. Re ...
'', was released in 2013 to positive critical reception. His third album, ''
The Ooz ''The Ooz'' (stylised as ''The OOZ'') is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Archy Marshall, and his second album under the stage name King Krule. It was released on 13 October 2017 via True Panther Sounds and XL Recordings. The a ...
'', was released on 13 October 2017 and his fourth album, '' Man Alive!'', was released on 21 February 2020 both to further critical acclaim. His music blends elements of
punk jazz Punk jazz is a genre of music that combines elements of jazz, especially improvisation, with the instrumentation and performance style of punk rock. The term was first used to describe James Chance and the Contortions' 1979 album ''Buy''. Punk ...
with hip hop, darkwave,
trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...
and
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
. He currently resides in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
.


Early life

Archy Marshall was born to Rachel Howard and Adam Marshall in
Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
, London. He has family in the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
. During an interview with ''The Guardian''s Rob Fitzpatrick, Marshall said that from a young age, he experienced discipline issues and refused to go to school. Throughout his childhood, he spent much of his time between his father's house in
Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...
and his mother's house in
East Dulwich East Dulwich is an area of South East London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms the eastern part of Dulwich, with Peckham to the east and Camberwell to the north. This South London suburb was first developed in the nineteent ...
; his mother was much less strict than his father, who had many rules. Marshall recalls that his father had to physically carry him to school, otherwise he would skip and hide in his room. Once he turned 13 years old, he was given a private house tutor. He was later accepted into the
Brit School The BRIT School is a British performing and creative arts school located in Selhurst, Croydon, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, music, music technology, theatre, musical theatre, danc ...
to study art, where he struggled with discipline initially, but soon found his place. Marshall has said that he was tested for several mental health conditions at London's
Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the ...
. He claims that the tests took a toll on him; that the doctors, counsellors and psychiatrists were wrong most of the time; that he hated everybody; and that he would hide in his room for hours on end. He refers to his mental health issues, such as depression and insomnia, in some of his lyrics. During an interview with
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, Marshall recalled that he often created art in many different media, as his parents encouraged creativity throughout his childhood. He noted that visual art in particular is important to him, and he mentioned that he carefully crafts his music videos and album art such that they reflect his particular aesthetic sensibility.


Career

During Marshall's years at
Forest Hill School Forest Hill School is a boys' secondary school and sixth form located in Forest Hill, in the London Borough of Lewisham. The school is in federation with the girls' secondary, Sydenham School, which is nearby. In 2005 the school was given Per ...
and then at the Brit School alongside long-time collaborator
Jamie Isaac Tom Cully, professionally known as Jamie Isaac, is an English singer, songwriter and producer, born and raised in Croydon Signed to House Anxiety /Marathon Artists, Isaac's debut EP, ''I Will Be Cold Soon'', attracted attention for its near-c ...
between 2008 and 2011, he released two singles as "Zoo Kid". He created a genre of music called "Bluewave" and its form was realised in the mixtape entitled ''U.F.O.W.A.V.E''. In July 2011, Marshall began playing under a new moniker, King Krule, at a festival in
Hyères Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The old town lies from the sea clustered around t ...
, France. Later that year he released his eponymous debut EP. Contrary to some reports, his stage name is not inspired by the character of King K. Rool from the ''Donkey Kong'' ''Country'' video game series, but rather by the
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
film ''
King Creole ''King Creole'' is a 1958 American musical drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and based on the 1952 novel '' A Stone for Danny Fisher'' by Harold Robbins. Produced by Hal B. Wallis, the film stars Elvis Presley, Carolyn Jones, Walter Matthau, ...
''. On 9 December 2012, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
announced that he had been nominated for the Sound of 2013 poll. King Krule released his debut album ''
6 Feet Beneath the Moon ''6 Feet Beneath the Moon'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Archy Marshall under the stage name King Krule. It was released on 24 August 2013, Marshall's nineteenth birthday, via True Panther Sounds and XL Recordings. Re ...
'' on 24 August 2013, his 19th birthday. More than half of the tracks had already been released on his EPs. This brought him to prominence, especially in the US, with performances on '' Conan'' and the ''
Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
''. On 8 January 2014, he released a video for "A Lizard State" which gained over 800,000 views on YouTube. In February 2014, King Krule appeared on the cover of ''
The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...
'' in its 90th issue. In December 2015, under the name Archy Marshall, he released an album titled ''A New Place 2 Drown'', which includes 12 songs, a 208-page book of visual art and text and a ten-minute documentary. He partnered with his brother, Jack Marshall, on this project. In an interview with NPR, Marshall said that he wanted the album to have a physical component, as well as something for the eyes and the ears. He released the album under the name Archy Marshall rather than King Krule to differentiate between the two different genres of music, as he claims that he thought of ''A New Place 2 Drown'' as a hip hop album rather than the dark alternative/
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
sound of ''6 Feet Beneath the Moon.'' Marshall took to NTS Radio, hosted by Mount Kimbie, and released two songs under the name Edgar the Beatmaker. The first song is untitled, and the second is titled "When and Why". In August 2017, Marshall released a new song entitled "Czech One". This was a King Krule release, the first since the release of his debut album in 2013. In September 2017, Marshall released a new song entitled "Dum Surfer", released under the name King Krule. On 13 October, Marshall released his second full album ''
The Ooz ''The Ooz'' (stylised as ''The OOZ'') is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Archy Marshall, and his second album under the stage name King Krule. It was released on 13 October 2017 via True Panther Sounds and XL Recordings. The a ...
'' under King Krule. It included the singles released in the previous two months as well as 17 new songs. The album received positive reviews, and was ranked the #83 most discussed album of 2017 and the 75th most shared album of 2017 according to Metacritic. The album ranked 23 out of 100 on Official Chart Ranking and was ranked 8.7 out of 10 based on 56 ratings. ''Pitchfork'' named the album the best rock album of 2017 and the third best album overall of 2017. It was nominated for IMPALA's European Album of the Year Award. On 8 March 2018 a live performance of songs from "The Ooz" was uploaded to the Molten Jets youtube channel, titled "King Krule - Live from the moon". This performance consisted of 8 different songs and was directed by Ja Humby. On 14 January 2020, Marshall announced his third King Krule album titled '' Man Alive!'' and released the single "(Don't Let the Dragon) Draag On" , as well as the single "Alone, Omen 3" on 5 February. Days before the album release, he released the single "Cellular" along with an animated music video, directed by Jamie Wolfe. The album was released on 21 February. On 10 September 2021, King Krule released the
live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
''You Heat Me Up, You Cool Me Down''.


Musical style and influences

Many reviewers and journalists have noted King Krule's unusual transcendence and appropriation of disparate genres. His music has been described mainly with jazz derivatives such as
punk jazz Punk jazz is a genre of music that combines elements of jazz, especially improvisation, with the instrumentation and performance style of punk rock. The term was first used to describe James Chance and the Contortions' 1979 album ''Buy''. Punk ...
and
jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...
, but also as darkwave,
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
and hip hop. Writers have also noted elements of
trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...
,
jazz rap Jazz rap (or jazz hip hop) is a fusion of jazz and hip hop music, as well as an alternative hip hop subgenre, that developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. AllMusic writes that the genre "was an attempt to fuse African-American music of the ...
and dub in some of his songs. Jason Lymangrover of
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
states that his songs are mainly in the form of
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
s with
major seventh In music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. It is qualified as ''major'' because it i ...
chords, but by contrast there is also a "grittiness" to Archy's voice and persona, portraying him as "the type of kid who would be quick to throw a punch without asking questions." His music has been likened to
Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...
and
Edwyn Collins Edwyn Stephen Collins (born 23 August 1959) is a Scottish musician, producer and record label owner from Edinburgh, Scotland. Collins was the lead singer for the 1980s post-punk band Orange Juice, which he co-founded. After the group split in ...
. He is inspired by disparate influences such as
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
,
Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rockabilly and rock and roll. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, " Be-Bop-a-Lula ...
, Josef K,
Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...
, Fela Kuti,
J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...
,
Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...
,
Aztec Camera Aztec Camera were a Scottish pop/ new wave band founded by Roddy Frame, the group's singer, songwriter, and only consistent member. Formed in 1980, Aztec Camera released a total of six studio albums: ''High Land, Hard Rain'' (1983), ''Knife'' ...
(his godfather is the band's former drummer, Dave Ruffy) and
The Penguin Cafe Orchestra The Penguin Cafe Orchestra (PCO) were an avant-pop band led by English guitarist Simon Jeffes. Co-founded with cellist Helen Liebmann, it toured extensively during the 1980s and 1990s. The band's sound is not easily categorized, having eleme ...
. Marshall said in an interview with
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
that he began his musical career with the influence of
Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas aro ...
and
The Libertines The Libertines are an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât (vocals/guitar) and Pete Doherty (vocals/guitar). The band, centred on the songwriting partnership of Barât and Doherty, has also included John Hassall ...
. Marshall's lyrics, according to a ''
Flaunt ''Flaunt'' is an American fashion and culture magazine based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, with an office in New York. History The magazine was founded in 1998 by the current C.E.O. Luis Barajas, and Creative Director Jim Turner, who had previous ...
'' magazine interview, generally consist of romance, sex, aggression, conflict, and depression. These themes link to his literary influences, in which Marshall further elaborated: "Literature, poems, songs are all very similar I used to read lots of poetry and sit there for ages trying to decipher the meaning, or work out the narration behind it all, then I found my own form of that. ..you can see how their metaphors develop and understand their uses. So really, I learnt to do that for myself."


Personal life

Marshall is in a relationship with English photographer Charlotte Patmore. Patmore has been a collaborator with him on photography and videography projects for several years, and has been involved with several of his music videos, including the video for the song "Cadet Limbo", which Patmore directed. In 2019 Patmore directed Hey World!, a video preceding the release of Marshall's album Man Alive!. They have one child, a daughter born in 2019.


Live band

* Archy Marshall – vocals, guitar, keyboards * James Wilson – bass, vocals * George Bass – drums * Jack Towell – guitar * Jamie Isaac – electronics * Ignacio Salvadores – saxophone


Discography


Studio albums


Live albums

* 2018: ''Live on the Moon'' (XL/True Panther Sounds/Matador) *2021: ''You Heat Me Up, You Cool Me Down'' (XL/True Panther Sounds/Matador)


EPs

* 2010: ''U.F.O.W.A.V.E.'' (self-released; as Zoo Kid) * 2010: ''Out Getting Ribs/Has This Hit'' 7" – single (House Anxiety Records; as Zoo Kid) * 2011: '' King Krule EP'' (True Panther) * 2012: ''Rock Bottom/Octopus'' 12" single (Rinse)


Other

* 2014: ''City Rivims Mk 1'' (self-released; w/ Sub Luna City)


Guest appearances


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King Krule 1994 births Living people English punk rock musicians English male singer-songwriters People educated at the BRIT School English baritones XL Recordings artists British trip hop musicians 21st-century English singers 21st-century British male singers People from Southwark