Man Alive! (King Krule album)

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Man Alive!
Studio album by
King Krule
Released21 February 2020 (2020-02-21)
Length41:45
Label
Producer
King Krule chronology
The Ooz
(2017) 		Man Alive!
(2020) 		Space Heavy
(2023)
Singles from Man Alive
  1. "(Don't Let the Dragon) Draag On"
    Released: 14 January 2020
  2. "Alone, Omen 3"
    Released: 5 February 2020
  3. "Cellular"
    Released: 18 February 2020

Man Alive! is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Archy Marshall, and his third album under the stage name King Krule. The album was released on 21 February 2020 through True Panther Sounds, XL Recordings, and Matador Records.

The first single off the album, "(Don't Let the Dragon) Draag On" debuted on 14 January 2020 on Pitchfork.[1]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.1/10[2]
Metacritic73/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Entertainment WeeklyB[5]
The Guardian[6]
Mojo[7]
NME[8]
The Observer[9]
Pitchfork7.7/10[10]
Q[11]
The Times[12]
Uncut6/10[13]

At Metacritic, 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".[3]

Sam Moore of NME 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".[8] 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".[11] Wilf Skinner of Clash praised the album as "an absorbing consolidation of Marshall's inimitable sound".[14] "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 Pitchfork 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".[10] AllMusic 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".[4]

Entertainment Weekly'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."[5] Tom Sloman of DIY found that the "frustrating" album finds Marshall "in transition",[15] while Greg Cochrane of Uncut wrote that "lush as it sometimes is, [it] too often disappears into an indecipherable cloud of smoke".[13] Writing in The Guardian, 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."[6] 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 dark tones".[16]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Archy Marshall

Man Alive! track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Cellular"2:59
2."Supermarché"2:36
3."Stoned Again"3:25
4."Comet Face"3:13
5."The Dream"1:39
6."Perfecto Miserable"3:15
7."Alone, Omen 3"2:47
8."Slinky"2:50
9."Airport Antenatal Airplane"2:15
10."(Don't Let the Dragon) Draag On"2:31
11."Theme for the Cross"4:06
12."Underclass"3:30
13."Energy Fleets"2:34
14."Please Complete Thee"4:05
Total length:41:45
Japanese edition bonus tracks[17]
No.TitleLength
15."Perfecto Miserable" (Hey World! Version) 
16."Alone, Omen 3" (Hey World! Version) 
17."(Don't Let the Dragon) Draag On" (Hey World! Version) 
18."Energy Fleets" (Hey World! Version) 

Notes

Personnel[edit]

Musicians

  • King Krule – performance, vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizers, keyboards, drum programming
  • Ignacio Salvadores – backing vocals (tracks 1, 3, 11, 13), saxophone (tracks 1, 3, 4, 8, 11–13)
  • George Bass – drums (tracks 6, 8), percussion (13)
  • James Wilson – bass (tracks 6, 7, 13)
  • Yassin – backing vocals (track 7)
  • Jack Towell – vocoder (track 13)

Technical

Artwork

  • Jack Marshall - Album Art

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for Man Alive!
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] 35
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] 45
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[20] 163
French Albums (SNEP)[21] 121
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[22] 42
Irish Albums (OCC)[23] 39
Scottish Albums (OCC)[24] 18
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 89
UK Albums (OCC)[26] 12
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[27] 2
US Billboard 200[28] 84
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[29] 9
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[30] 6
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[31] 10

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ruiz, Matthew Ismael (14 January 2020). "King Krule Announces New Album Man Alive!, Shares Video: Watch". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Man Alive! by King Krule reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Man Alive! by King Krule Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  4. ^ a b Kellman, Andy. "Man Alive! – King Krule". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  5. ^ a b Greenblatt, Leah (March 2020). "King Krule: Man Alive!". Entertainment Weekly. No. 1584–1585. p. 99.
  6. ^ a b Aroesti, Rachel (21 February 2020). "King Krule: Man Alive! review – disgust, dissolution and despair". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  7. ^ Segal, Victoria (April 2020). "King Krule: Man Alive!". Mojo. No. 317. p. 95.
  8. ^ a b Moore, Sam (20 February 2020). "King Krule – 'Man Alive!' review: the Krulean gloom lifts to reveal a more optimistic worldview". NME. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  9. ^ Joshi, Tara (23 February 2020). "King Krule: Man Alive! review – stirring, dreamy optimism". The Observer. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  10. ^ a b Monroe, Jazz (20 February 2020). "King Krule: Man Alive!". Pitchfork. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  11. ^ a b Doherty, Niall (April 2020). "King Krule: Man Alive!". Q. No. 409. p. 110.
  12. ^ Hodgkinson, Will (21 February 2020). "King Krule: Man Alive! review — hazy, hallucinogenic sketches". The Times. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  13. ^ a b Cochrane, Greg (April 2020). "King Krule: Man Alive!". Uncut. No. 275. p. 30.
  14. ^ Skinner, Wilf (20 February 2020). "King Krule – Man Alive!". Clash. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  15. ^ Sloman, Tom (20 February 2020). "King Krule – Man Alive!". DIY. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  16. ^ Hull, Tom (13 July 2020). "Music Week". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  17. ^ "BEATINK.COM Man Alive!". Beatink.com. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Australiancharts.com – King Krule – Man Alive!". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Ultratop.be – King Krule – Man Alive!" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  20. ^ "Ultratop.be – King Krule – Man Alive!" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  21. ^ "Lescharts.com – King Krule – Man Alive!". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  22. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – King Krule – Man Alive!" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  23. ^ "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  24. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  25. ^ "Swisscharts.com – King Krule – Man Alive!". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  26. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  27. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  28. ^ "King Krule Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  29. ^ "King Krule Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  30. ^ "King Krule Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  31. ^ "King Krule Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
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