Marcus King - Mood Swings

Marcus King’s new record, Mood Swings, is a major sonic shift for the rising talent. Where his previous releases were genre-bending Southern rock and blues records, Mood Swings strips away King’s signature Gibson, focusing instead on his stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks vocals.

Mood Swings opens with the sound bite “And I think that is the part of hell that a person in depression really tastes, the terrible hopelessness” from the 1959 film, The Faces of Depression. Such an ominous entrance sets the tone for an album which tackles subject matter that most shy away from. King admitted that he didn’t plan on living much longer before he started working on Mood Swings, ultimately attributing the album to saving his life. This everpresent struggle with mental health, addiction and suicidal ideation weaves throughout each of the eleven tracks. This, combined with King’s candid songwriting, anchor the record together.

Sonically, though, the album feels disjointed, running the gamut from the gripping southern rock of the opener and the piano-led pop rocker ‘Delilah’, to more alt-R&B leanings on ‘Inglewood Motel (Halestorm)’ and ‘Save Me’. While King comes out swinging with two of the strongest songs on the album – the title-track and ‘Come F*ck My Life Up Again’ – the shift from the heavier, more southern rock influenced offerings to ballads results in most of the songs more or less melding together. With the album closer ‘Cadillac’, meanwhile, King doesn’t attempt to tie everything together, instead steeping the track in psychedelia and metaphor.

Independently, each song on Mood Swings is bold in its own right, but as a collection, it ultimately falls flat.

6.5/10

Marcus King’s 2024 project, Mood Swings, is available April 5 via American/Republic Records.

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