''Man Alive!'' is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Archy Marshall, and his third album under the stage name

King Krule 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 fol ...

. The album was released on 21 February 2020 through

True Panther Sounds True Panther Sounds (TPS) is a New York City-based independent record label founded by Dean Bein, previously owned by Matador Records and distributed by Beggars Group. The label began in 2004 in San Francisco to release a tour-only 7" by founders ...

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six alb ...

, and

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City apart ...

. The first single off the album, "(Don't Let the Dragon) Draag On" debuted on 14 January 2020 on ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

''.

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, ''Man Alive!'' received an average score of 73, based on 19 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Sam Moore of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' wrote that the album "is lifted by Marshall's knack for hazy social observations and poetic metropolitan storytelling", deeming it more accessible than '' The Ooz'' due to its condensed length and "more optimistic worldview". Niall Doherty of '' Q'' likewise found the sound of ''Man Alive!'' to be "more welcoming... not quite as warped as it once was", while adding that Marshall "sounds at peace here, and back to his best". Wilf Skinner of '' Clash'' praised the album as "an absorbing consolidation of Marshall's inimitable sound". "Holding to Marshall's wavelength requires a little more investment than the dingy music asks for, but that's not to say his shadowland of the heart lacks nuance," wrote ''

'' critic Jazz Monroe, who was struck by "Marshall's intensity with words, the way he threads and knots them like jute rope to hoist himself out of psychic craters".

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 dat ...

editor Andy Kellman highlighted Ignacio Salvadores' musical contributions: "They add necessary color to Marshall's gray vision, peculiar and riveting as it is on its own". ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...

''s Leah Greenblatt was more qualified in her praise, finding the tracks "enveloping" but also occasionally "exhausting—a bleakness that begs, eventually, for a little fresh air." Tom Sloman of ''

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

'' found that the "frustrating" album finds Marshall "in transition", while Greg Cochrane of ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' wrote that "lush as it sometimes is, ttoo often disappears into an indecipherable cloud of smoke". Writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', critic Rachel Aroesti wrote that the album's "bagginess and unremitting gloom mean it often struggles to hold the attention and unfortunately lacks much discernible appeal at all." Tom Hull gave it a B grade and said that Marshall "has a rep for drawing on punk and hip-hop, but mostly comes up with

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, C ...

dark tones".

Track listing

Notes * "Comet Face" contains elements from "

Tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English '' ...

", written by

Jimmy McCracklin James David Walker Jr. (August 13, 1921 – December 20, 2012), better known by his stage name Jimmy McCracklin, was an American pianist, vocalist, and songwriter. His style contained West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career tha ...

and

Lowell Fulson Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921March 7, 1999) was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most ...

; featuring samples from the

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blue ...

and

Carla Thomas Carla Venita Thomas (born December 21, 1942) is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. Thomas is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits " Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)" (1 ...

recording. * "Alone, Omen 3" contains portions of "Never Had a Dream", written by

Leroy Bonner Leroy or Le Roy may refer to: People * Leroy (name), a given name and surname * Leroy (musician), American musician * Leroy (sailor), French sailor Places United States * Leroy, Alabama * Le Roy, Illinois * Le Roy, Iowa * Le Roy, Kansas * Le R ...

, Marshall Jones, Ralph Middlebrooks,

Walter Morrison Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born ...

, Norman Napier, Andrew Nowland and Gregory Webster; performed by the

Ohio Players Ohio Players is an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of the women were models feat ...

. * "Airport Antenatal Airplane" and "(Don't Let the Dragon) Draag On" contain elements of "Small Crimes", written, recorded and performed by

Nilüfer Yanya Nilüfer Yanya (; born 11 May 1995) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Early life Yanya is the daughter of two visual artists, her mother is of Irish and Barbadian heritage and her father is Turkish. Yanya grew up in Chelsea, Lon ...

Personnel

Musicians *

– performance, vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizers, keyboards, drum programming * Ignacio Salvadores – backing vocals , saxophone * George Bass – drums , percussion * James Wilson – bass * Yassin – backing vocals * Jack Towell –

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

Technical * Archy Marshall – production, mixing * Dilip Harris – production, mixing * Guy Davie – mastering Artwork * Jack Marshall - Album Art

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2020 albums Albums produced by King Krule King Krule albums Matador Records albums True Panther Sounds albums XL Recordings albums