King Krule – SHHHHHHH! (EP Review)

King Krule or Archy Marshall has released a new EP titled Shhhhhhh! The EP contains four tracks previously only available on flexi-discs sold during the 2023 Shhhhhhh! Tour. The tracks include: “Achtung”, “All Soup Now”, Time For Slurp”, and “Whaleshark”. This is best thought of as a continuation of Marshall and his bandmates’ exploration and relishing of their new found Space Heavy based senses. 

The release of Man Alive! in 2020 demonstrated Marshall’s growing angst, existentialism, and attachment for things/those close to him, resulting in a heavier, more frightening sound than his previous projects. To say that this new ultra-grimy and sunken-in sound was pulled out of left field would be a stretch. The previous two albums released by Krule – The OOZ in 2017 and Six Feet Beneath the Moon in 2013 – certainly had their coats of grime, coupled with its air of angst, anxiety, and dread; a stench as strong as diesel fuel in the air, seemingly increasing per project, despite the inclusion of softer, less abrasive tracks in all albums. But don’t get me wrong –  these softer and less abrasive tracks scattered on every album are still riddled with guilt, dread, and anxiety.

Post Man Alive! and prior Space Heavy, day one fans and new fans alike anticipated this album which sucked you up into its world of whatever you might call it; a world somewhat familiar, but a world in which you rarely willingly confront and would rather have King Krule do so. All of his previous projects created this legacy in which only Marshall could satisfy, similar to the string of nightmares that only Stephen King could present to you.

And then it happened! On June 9th, the album Space Heavy was released by King Krule. The album began with a solid punch-in-the-chest of an intro with “Flimsier”, phasing into a more punky and energetic style with songs like “Pink Shell” and “Hamburgerphobia”. This punk derived fast-paced style isn’t unexplored waters with Marshall and his bandmates, as we’ve heard familiar concepts on even the first King Krule album: Six Feet Beneath The Moon, with the track “A Lizard State” which serves as the common standard of chaos, intricateness, angst, and passion within King Krule’s catalog.

But King Krule does explore his unexplored waters within the music on tracks like “Seaforth” and“Seagirl”, which further any previous attempt by King Krule to make a song that doesn’t leave you staring blankly at your ceiling fan. The album was fresh, demonstrated a different side to King Krule, and scratched an itch that the previous music simply wasn’t concerned with scratching. It was by no means a letdown. But like most King Krule projects, it felt a little bulky.

There are tracks on the album that I feel stand out and have this great deal of merit or whatever makes them good, but in turn, those amazing tracks manage to outshine other tracks on the album, so much so that I forget they even exist. I can almost separate the tracks into two categories: pretty great and not bad. Fortunately for King Krule, however, fans felt like they had a bit of everything on the album, therefore drawing everyone to different songs, rather than just one hit.

So whilst I may like the faster-paced songs like “Pink Shell”, “Seaforth”, “Hamburgerphobia”, “From The Swamp”, and “Space Heavy”, someone else may enjoy the slower, more vulnerable songs like “Tortoise of Independency”, “Flimsy”, “Seagirl”, or “If Only It Was Warmth”. But if you can’t get down with any of it, that could just be a you problem.

Now let’s get down to what this article is supposed to be about: Shhhhhhh! The release was somewhat curious to me when it came to Krule’s intentions: is it to keep Space Heavy and this new era of Kruleness fresh, or is it to bid it farewell? 

Shhhhhhh! kicks off with “Achtung!” and “Time For Slurp” which are two very fluid-sounding songs with a lot of spacey and dreamy guitar “noodling”. ‘Whaleshark” is much more laid back with a gentle bossa nova inspired guitar rhythm, coupled with steady drops of percussion and Archy Marshall’s distorted vocals. The track ends with a classy and soothing saxophone solo, a beloved aspect of King Krule’s music throughout the years. The final track “It’s all soup now” is this slow, bittersweet, and personal track that gets momentarily lost in the soulful trails of the saxophone. The track fades loudly, with a much faster-paced tempo. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the self-titled track on Space Heavy, a personal favorite of mine. The last minute or so is this strange electronic bit, maybe something you’d hear in the basement of your batshit-insane neighbor. Not necessary, but still a good whiff of oddness.

Score/Good: I enjoyed Shhhhhhh! I appreciate the similarities that can be drawn from it and Space Heavy, as well as the differences. It’s brief, it’s familiar, but more importantly to me, it’s a sign that King Krule is not afraid to delve into something different. 

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]