New Place 2 Drown

This was termed the "accompanying soundtrack" to a collaborative book from Archy "King Krule" Marshall and his brother Jack -- an assemblage of their art, poetry, and photography. In an odd way, that unfairly downplays the weight of Archy's first album since 6 Feet Beneath the Moon. In contrast to that widely praised 2013 release, A New Place 2 Drown consists mostly of lurching, bleary beats that aren't too far from "Neptune Estate" and "Will I Come" in makeup. Additionally, it places Archy's voice deeper into the mix, and there are only fleeting instances of aggression in the singer's delivery. Instead, his voice is more fluid, rarely evoking anything more active than stoned lazing. At times, it's soothing -- blissed-out, even -- especially when he casually and cleverly brags, "Her love's unlimited, she lays there playing Barry White." Still, there's plenty of shrugged-off dejection and South London hip-hop blues to go around. It's related with some of the era's sharpest songwriting. ~ Andy Kellman