PAN M 360 / TOP 100 : King Krule — Space Heavy

Over the past few weeks, our most active record reviewers have had the task of choosing their 5 favorite recordings of 2023, and here they are. This selection is unique and quite different of all you can find on the web or through traditional medias.

Few indie-alternative artists today can say they’ve grown alongside their audience like King Krule has. Each time he reinvents himself—from the glistening, semi-ambient dreamscape of The Ooz (2017) to the raucous yet stunning experimentation on Man Alive! (2020)—we’re shown another side of Archie Marshall’s impossibly multifaceted abilities. On Space Heavy, we hear an older, wiser King Krule. If you’ve ever felt like you’re still that same angry teen in a grown-up body, you’ll identify with this smattering of vivid, visceral tracks immediately. Each song on here has the expert craftsmanship we’ve come to expect from King Krule, weaving together countless sonic threads of sampling, instrumentation, and vocals into impossibly lavish tapestries that draw us in, hands bound and hearts open. Faded splendour runs amok on Space Heavy—a complicated web of joy and despair, so lovingly enmeshed and entangled, that we’ve ended up with King Krule’s best work yet.