King Krule - 6 Feet Beneath The Moon

6 Feet Beneath The Moon is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter King Krule (Archy Marshall), released in August 2013 via XL Recordings.

Archy Marshall has a voice that seems mismatched with a body. Marshall looks too young to buy the cigarettes he's always sucking on. His voice, bigger than his body, is further magnified by reverb.

His singing on this remarkable debut – a cross between slurring, chewing and hawking up phlegm – often borrows its internal rhymes from hip-hop as much as it recalls his most obvious vocal forebear, Joe Strummer. Styles, genres and eras collide in King Krule. “A Lizard State”, for instance, begins with a groaning snarl and unfurls into what you can only call jazz-rap.

Wisely, his beguiling voice is mixed prominently in 6 Feet Beneath The Moon, up front, to place an accent on his dexterous, streetwise lyrics and the emotional details in his delivery. With a snarling intensity, Archy sings like the type of kid who would be quick to throw a punch without asking questions.

This grittiness contrasts with the balladic nature of his songs, which are built from the ground up from a guitar plugged clean into a Twin Reverb, and a love of jazz-style major seventh chords. His breakout single, "Out Getting Ribs", demonstrates his ability to break hearts with just a lone guitar and voice, but elsewhere, lo-fi breakbeats permeate the mix subtly, with songs like "Will I Come" and "Neptune Estate" using some tricks from trip-hop, such as samples, loops, and Rhodes piano.

With so many varying styles, it's a bit of a surprise that it comes together so effortlessly, but at its core, King Krule is showing all sides of his environment, and the multiple genres laced into the sparse backdrop are held together by an overlying somber grey fog. Peel that back and you have one an incredibly vital debut.

Check out the tracks: “Easy Easy”; “Neptune Estate” and “A Lizard State”. 

This double LP housed in a gatefold sleeve with a digital download is pressed in Europe on 180 gram heavyweight vinyl.