Ahead of 'Man Alive!' King Krule Turns his Deprecative Thoughts Forward

by Marissa Cardenas

King Krule premiered “Alone, Omen 3” as a music video and single earlier this month that challenges his thoughts about standing alone and other internal insecurities, in order to comfort someone else. 

Before this, Krule dropped a short film last November titled “Hey World!” with tour dates and new sounds after visuals for his track “Logos” came out last year in January. 

A lot of his songs under the Krule alias have had a tendency to talk about spaces of loneliness and internalized issues, perhaps best shown in “Lonely Blue,” a song off his last album, in which he describes being so out of touch with himself that he begins to talk to himself in the third person. 

These feelings are replicated in the title track of his last record. He repeatedly asks if anyone is out there, suggesting that although he is unaccompanied, he doesn’t want it to be that way. But, that is how it goes. 

However, “Alone, Omen 3” seems to mark something of a departure from these negative, disconnected sentiments for Krule.

With the music video’s cool tones and visuals, it is easy to assume that this will be another song about isolation and self-deprecation. The opening scene with people on phones, ranging from close-ups of lips to phone screens to people pacing to desperately calling someone, is almost a fight against solitude. These characters demand proper attention to be reminded that they are cared for. They don’t want to be in solitude anymore. These are the people that Krule is directing this towards.

Krule’s avid interest in phones that could be traced back to his first album “6 Feet Beneath the Moon” the beginning of his song “A Lizard State” starts with a phone dial tone getting increasingly louder until its end or even from the Hey World! video. 

“Alone, Omen 3” comes off as a track about taking control of what you feel and what you think. Whether it is a difficult or simple decision, the time spent is worth it because of its end result: learning about yourself. Lyrics reminding listeners who suffer from these feelings to “soak it in, for the rain will pass in time, nothing wrong in sinking low.” Even if it’s mundane tasks such as taking the train to the end or throwing rocks into rivers, Krule suggests focusing on the ends instead of the means. It’s not about the time spent but what you find out of it. And you aren’t the only one going through this process. 

It seems like this song isn’t for him but about someone he loves. It arguably could be referring to his girlfriend because of the repeated “my girl” lines or maybe even his child, who knows. 

But similarly to when you give people reassurance and advice, it is something that you allow yourself to internalize as well. So Krule, although he is saying this to someone, may also be admitting to himself that he is also not solitary anymore. 

Through scenes where Krule is surrounded by people that leave or walking with no one, you still aren’t alone. There are people that love you. Whether it’s your friends, family, your significant other, or yourself. And if you do let these thoughts consume you, it is okay and that you aren’t the only one feeling this way. 

And Krule brings this idea home. 

The video ends with him and his wife walking away with his firstborn child in hand, his thoughts of loneliness may be over for now. 

King Krule’s third studio album Man Alive! comes out on February 21st.