King Krule Shares Short Film with New Songs, Announces Tour

Archie Marshall—the man behind the King Krule moniker—has continued to defy artistic convention with the release of a short film titled Hey World! containing four new songs: “Perfecto Miserable,” “Alone, Omen 3,” ”(Don’t Let The Dragon) Draag On,” and “Energy Fleets.” The film comes with the announcement of King Krule’s 2020 European and North American tour through March and April 2020.

Krule’s film, directed by Charlotte Patmore, is quite a bizarre journey. Over its 15-minute run time, there are very few cuts during Marshall’s performances of his songs. Instead, each separate track places Marshall in a different setting with a VHS-style camera focusing on his playing for a single shot. One shows him in a wooden chair in the midst of a foggy, snow-covered field. Another captures him standing in a field at dusk with billowing nuclear smokestacks behind him.

No matter what scene Marshall occupies, there’s a distinct sense of solitude in each one. As he growls the repeated line, “Don’t forget, you’re not alone,” on “Alone, Omen 3,” it’s as if he’s singing to his lonesome self.

The lo-fi recordings of the songs—simply Marshall’s deep voice and guitar—seem to have been tracked on the spot for each scene, with ambient noise making its way into the music. There’s no word on whether the stripped-down demos across Hey World! will make their way into a future release, but the interlude after “Alone, Omen 3,” plays a fuller version of the same song—possibly referring to a recording or a few to be released. Speculation aside, new music from King Krule can only be a good sign.