Best albums of 2023 #21

 #21: King Krule, “Space Heavy”

Genre: Art Rock 

Every album ever made is attempting to capture something. Every album ever made attempts to give us a feeling through music, an experience shared between the artist and the listener. And sometimes, although we may not necessarily enjoy listening to the music, something will capture a feeling so uncannily well that it scares us. This is one of those times. 

Space Heavy is not an album that makes sense when taken apart. No individual song here is a fulfilling experience, although they certainly sound interesting enough. No, this is an album that is intended to be taken in as a whole. A concept album where the concept is desolation. Even the album cover reflects this, showing an incomprehensible structure on an empty and hollow planet. Except in short bursts, everything in this album just sounds low.

Every note in this album feels like it’s stuck in a space of apathy, a space separated from the more intense emotions like anger but still far from happiness. It’s calming in the way that giving up entirely often is. Perhaps that’s the appeal of this creature of a musical project, it represents total surrender in a way so earnest and so true that it’s almost difficult not to connect with. In a way, we all want to be like it, we all secretly wish on some level to calmly walk away from the table and say we won’t play the game of life as intended anymore. It’s almost rebelliously dreary. 

This is clearly something understood by King Krule himself. It’s why the only respite from the oppressively bleak sound is anger. Even so, it’s a subdued anger, far from the screams and loud noises of the album’s we’ve previously covered. Archie, the man behind King Krule, uses his somewhat limited vocal range to switch effortlessly between surrender and a quiet disdain. In this album, as in our lives, the two often accompany one another. 

Covering any songs from Space Heavy on their own would be missing the point. It isn’t meant to be listened to as a collection of songs, they’re so intrinsically connected at every turn that it wouldn’t be fair to isolate them. As if to emphasize this point, midway through the album the songs begin to blend together, becoming one 8 minute song strung together in parts. It would be hard to even tell what a song even is in this album. 

This is unorthodox, even for King Krule. You will not be able to easily digest this album, you may not ever even listen to it again, but that's alright. The point is, I can almost guarantee that this is an entirely unique style that you probably haven't experienced before and will probably never experience again, and I'd be remis if I didn't say something about it. It's terrifying, it's depressing, but it's incredible.

Favorite songs: N/A

Least favorite song: Pink Shell, it doesn’t quite fit the tone as well as the others.

Favorite moment: The opening of Flimsier immediately letting you know what kind of album this is going to be. 

Favorite lyric: 'A lot has changed, now a lot means to me'

https://open.spotify.com/album/31UtR7w5vJtg8AmBvWAwL5?si=peBalNI4TlSQYEXbbdtNpQ