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stream King Krule's double LP 'The Ooz'

King Krule

After months of promotion, a mysterious package sent to fans, several intimate popup shows, and three singles, the new album from Archy Marshall, aka King Krule, is finally here. The Ooz is a double album — 19 songs at 66 minutes — but the album’s length is not nearly as intimidating as one might expect. Musically, the record’s dark, smoky mood is similar to that of 6 Feet Beneath The Moon, but expands its sonic palette, pulling from jazz, experimental rock, rockabilly, lo-fi, trip hop, and many more. The dreamlike, expansive-yet-intimate sound of The Ooz, however, is something only Marshall could create.

The album’s lyrics touch on themes previously explored on Marshall’s debut — isolation, depression, and lost love — but here in a much more vulnerable, direct way. “A Slide In (New Drugs)” has Marshall speaking to the listener with brutal honesty: “My skin is bleach, my hair is long/I have no teeth I’ve never done/my gums are raw and bleeding all of time.” On “Midnight 01 (Deep Sea Diver),” Marshall compares his bouts with depression to drowning: “Why’d you leave me/because of my depression/you used to complete me but I guess I learnt a lesson/things are even/but don’t even out/the deep sea diver’s in doubt,” Marshall croons, as a skipping jazz rhythm — which samples Heinz Kiessling’s “Temptation Sensation” (which you may know as the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia theme) — hangs in the back.

The Ooz isn’t as direct as 6 Feet Beneath the Moon, and a few of the songs on the record might not necessarily stand out on their own, but the sum is greater than the parts. Marshall’s unique style has staying power and, at 23, he’s got many years ahead. Stream The Ooz via Spotify, below.

King Krule’s North American tour starts next week, and includes two sold-out shows at Brooklyn’s Warsaw.

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