There’s a few impressions that have always stayed with me for some reason. One of those is an ever-returning scene of traveling on the night-train to Milan, something I did quite a few times during the mid-80’s. There was something so utterly detached and anonymous about stopping at a deserted station in the midst of night, witnessing the sharp contrasts of the harsh neon lights on an empty platform from the comfort and darkness of the train compartment: a feeling of alienation and sheer peace at the same time. A sense of belonging to somewhere that is nowhere. A moment of stillness in time that seemed like an eternal state of transience.
Looking at Archy Marshall, aka King Krule’s new short film called Hey World! last night, evoked that very same atmosphere. The stripped, bare settings of him all alone with his guitar/uke, underpinned by the ongoing sounds of the road and life, contain that same strange juxtaposition: near, and yet distant.
For a moment the world went away, words failed and interferences withdrew. I have seldom seen anything more honest and true on musical format. This is pure poetry. It just goes to show that music doesn’t need bells and whistles to touch the core of your being. Just the right chords.
The 4 songs in this short film are called : “Perfecto Miserable,” “Alone, Omen 3,” “(Don’t Let The Dragon) Draag On,” and “Energy Fleets.” The film was directed by Archy’s partner Charlotte Patmore, who recently became the mother of his first child.
