New How to Dress Well album fresh, heartfelt

How to Dress Well, or otherwise known by his real name- Tom Krell has been making music for a number of years. He began by making his own music and posting it to Sound Cloud in 2009 and has been getting rave reviews ever since. In June of 2014, Krell came out with his most recent album titled “What is this Heart?” A question that is up for one’s own interpretation.

What’s great about this album is that a lot of the songs seem to flow well together. Choppiness is avoided and the clarity that is Krell’s voice is found. The emotions are strong and not overshadowed by the experimental sounding background of many of the songs. Far from traditional R&B, that aspect is still ever so present and beautiful.

Pictured on the front of the album itself one sees How to Dress Well, himself. The black background seems to promote the gloomy, heartbrokenness that the album gives off, while Krell’s whole body language, facial expression and demeanor seem to say “I need help for this melancholy.”

Pitchfork media, an online magazine that specializes in reporting music, reviewing it among other things gave HTDW’s latest album an 8.8 out of 10 and filed it under their best new music category. Which is an honor that Krell has received before for his album “Total Loss.”

When describing Krell’s sound, it’s important to note the obvious R&B influences he has obtained to create his own style- his own genre (if you will) of music. How to Dress Well is a mixture of R&B like vocals with electronic undertones that leave the listener honestly a bit confused, but only in the best of ways. That is also what is so appealing about this album. Take for instance the song “Words I Don’t Remember.” The introduction for that song is about one minute long filled with many different layers of distortion and cool background music.

“What Is This Heart?” is different in comparison to Krell’s other albums. Flavorwire magazine said that this album is almost happy. As a whole, this piece of work is a sad one. The Guardian called it a soundtrack to misery and heartbreak. With songs like “2 Years On (Shame Dream)” it’s easy to get that sense. “My father he was terrible” is one of the lines that sticks out the most. It’s not just about the romantic heartbreak of breaking up with someone, it’s universal heartbreak that can be translated from person to person, like in this instance he’s talking about his father.

In a review for the album on Rolling Stone, Sophie Weiner said it best when discussing one of the best songs on the work “On Face Again,” he cries, ‘I don’t even know what’s best for me’ – a concise summary of the album’s themes. Krell may be preoccupied with his failure to change, but this record makes it clear he’s working on it.” It’s a grown up album. One that is cleaner than Krell’s older releases. It’s an album to be proud of as an artist. The theme thoroughly there, not only with the lyrics, but also with the beats and what not. “What is this Heart?” really asks that question. Giving answers (the songs) and letting the listener decide what a heart, or rather what this heart is all about.