How to Dress Well

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How to Dress Well, (spearheaded by producer/singer Tom Krell) is one of those artists, often blending moody electronica and experimental soundscapes with an R&B tinged crooner falsetto, that has carved out a niche for himself that transcends vibes and genres. He can go from haunting and isolated in one track then tender and loving in another and with the 5 albums to his discography so far, it’s remarkable how diverse each album is from the others.

He started out with the ambient lo-fi release Love Remains in 2010, where his vocals, often drowning in crackling soundscapes meditating on heartache, depression, and at times fighting through the fog of it all and coming out the other end. The sparse production and undeniable shoegaze vibe of the album marked How to Dress Well as an artist to follow but for as well received as his first release was, I think it was with his second release Total Loss that he really established himself as an artistic force. The production is cleaner but no less moody, his voice comes through more clearly and confidently and we even get a few stone-cold Jams such as the groovy snapped beat of ‘Running Back’ and absolute stomper of ‘& It Was You’ with its 90’s R&B vibes shining through like diamond.

However, as to be expected with an album with such a title, this is steeped in grief and mourning having been written and produced after a period of tremendous loss for Krell. ‘Cold Nights’ is an early album track rolling in sorrow and grief as well as tracks like ‘How Many?’ with its mournful vocalizations at the end. However, no track hits quite like the stunning ‘Talking to You’ which plays like an open letter or a mournful dialogue over a tear-stained memento. Then, to have this track followed by ‘Set it Right’ where he lists a seemingly endless rollcall of people he misses, it’s one of the most open and devastating expressions of loss ever committed to music.

With his third release What is This Heart? he stepped back a little from the open grieving to focus on matters of the heart more intimately. While it’s more romantically inclined it’s no less moody and when it’s all done, we see Krell steer the ship to a little more pop-centric arena. ‘Repeat Pleasure’ rides in with an infectious piano bit and a funky guitar pluck before it breaks into the clappy chorus and one of my favorite tracks, ‘Precious Love’ turns a well-known ‘please hold for the next available agent’ instrumental into a sweet ballad. Other tracks like ‘Words I Don’t Remember’ drift in on a woozy synth and glitchy vocal switching back and forth, and ‘Childhood Faith in Love (Everything Must Change, Everything Must Stay the Same)’ busts down the door with an optimism that builds and builds as the track surges from tapping piano chords to a screeching guitar riff. It’s solid collection of songs that avoids treading the same water as what came before but doesn’t re-write the song book in the same way the follow up would.

If his second album cemented his status as an artistic force and his third album further confirmed his competence, it was his 4th release Care where Krell showed his fearlessness diving unashamedly into pop territory all the while subverting the conventions and themes typical of the genre. With the opening track ‘Can’t You Tell’ he serenades with a love song that makes great pains to establish consent and equality (there’s a reason this made it onto my ‘Consent Slow Jam’ list!) and with ‘Anxious’ he channels the 2010’s chart toppers (complete with ‘Millennial Whoop’) with a track about the existential anxiety of social media age and the disconnect it creates. Sometimes the album is a little too grand for its intentions but its chock full of some of my favorite tracks by Krell, including the magical ‘Burning Up’ and it’s lovely and apologetic follow up ‘I Was Terrible.’ This was the album that initially grabbed my attention and told me I needed to dig deeper.

The follow-up to Care (the most recent release,) The Anteroom, is a speed boat in the opposite direction, bathing in the sleepy sounds of the electronic world and leaving behind the accessible for the intensively reflective. Upon first listen I was a little overwhelmed by the album’s subtlety (which seems like an oxymoron) but upon repeat listens it eventually started coming together. What I initially thought to be somnambulant and foggy turned out to be steeped in anger, frustration and a quiet turbulence that is unmistakable once revealed. The gentle regrets of ‘Body Fat’ with its simple but affecting imagery, the poetic bliss of ‘Love Means Taking Action’, and the delightful dance of ‘Hunger’ bring together so many of Tom’s strengths and the production is his clearest and the most pristine it’s ever been. How to Dress Well proves with this release that to stand still doesn’t always mean that you don’t grow. Sometimes in the stillness you find a greater resonance with yourself and the world you’ve built around you.

Over the course of these 5 albums, How To Dress Well has shown a lot of different sides, flexed different stylistic influences and different angles on well tread territory. There's something so personal about his music but it's personal in a way that doesn't seem intrusive or like I was reading someone else’s diary, but rather like I was reading my own. I'm not sure what How to Dress Well has coming but it's been 4 years since the last release so I'm quite hungry for more.