Archy Marshall cuts the same silhouette as Bowie’s Thin White Duke—but the similarities don’t end there. Born stone’s throws from each other (respectively in Southwark and Lambeth), both artists transcend their earthliness, defy categorisation, and are fans of the sax. Marshall is larger, and smaller, than life; transparent, would he not be so fascinating to observe.
Man Alive! has the difficult task of following Marshall’s lauded (but still not-lauded-enough) The Ooz—a 2017 album which assembled all the best things about roughly twenty different genres into a cohesive whole. Man Alive! is constructed from the same blueprint, but with some noodly edges shaved off; a leaner, tighter, and more focused piece of work than its predecessor.
Its early energy is explosive and irresistible. An opening salvo of four or five songs is almost impossibly exciting, peaking with the beat-driven ‘Stoned Again’. Replete with Marshall’s psychotic backing vocals and thundering drums and bass, it’s a sensory overload in the best possible way.
The adrenaline rush soon submits to a cool beauty, an unravelling of Marshall’s anger and its replacement by gentle washes of hope. It’s an unfamiliar mood being explored here, but its first steps are far from tentative. A throughline of discordance tells us this could collapse at any time—who hasn’t sabotaged their own happiness at one point or another?—but the big take-homes from Man Alive! are its lush crescendos; hypnotic, looping chord sequences; and its uplifting lyrical content (“don’t forget you’re not alone”).
The looseness of tracks like ‘Slinky’ will lead them to be overlooked. But any fan of The Ooz will know that Marshall’s vignettes and diversions are often just as rewarding as the keyframe cuts of his albums. Man Alive is absolutely stuffed with these little golden nuggets, which add so much character to an album already bursting with it.
Marshall is able to create music which sounds global and local, ageless and contemporary, mystical and empathetic. The boy can do it all, and is destined to go down as one of the greats—so don’t be one of those thickos who wasn’t listening at the time.
Man Alive! is available for purchase here.
Words by Andrew O’Keefe