How to Dress Well
Care
Reviewed by: Lauren Rosier
The sultry, sexy voice of Tom Krell, better known as his stage name, How To Dress Well, has returned with his fourth full length album titled Care. Since his debut, Love Remains, Krell has consistently received overwhelming praise for his music, with 2014’s What Is This Heart? receiving an 8.8 out of 10 rating from prominent music site, Pitchfork, and a nod in its “Best New Music” list.
Care delivers 11 tracks of solid indie pop that showcases the best record to-date from Krell. He crafts songs where sexy, yet sometimes introspective lyrics are layered over top of various genres of music that have been melded together to form a song that screams How To Dress Well!
Care opens with a seductive, sexy track titled “Can’t You Tell” that has Krell crooning to his lover: “Every word you say you choose with such care / when you’re talkin’ / I could listen all day, baby, baby / your whole life is like a song babe, I swear…”
The following track, “Salt Song,” is 6:37 of total bliss. From the beats, to the pounding drums, and rhythmic guitars, Krell constructs a song that has reminders of electronic dance music, but the guitars and his vocals between 2:08 through 2:37, provide a climax that gives the listener nothing but a smile upon listening.
The lead single of the record is called “What’s Up” and like the others, it’s comprised of introspective lyrics like “It’s up to us to see what we are made of” and has just an overall cute vibe as seen through lyrics like “If you call, babe I’m callin’ you back / be there to catch you / I won’t let it fall through the cracks / say what you want and I promise to calmly react.”
Krell shifts to a darker tone with the track “The Ruins” very reminiscent of The Weeknd and even Krell’s vocals sound very similar to The Weeknd’s Abel Tesfaye’s. It showcases Krell’s R&B side well and is able to reveal how versatile he is with his musical stylings.
How To Dress Well’s Tom Krell shows off his musicianship in the versatility of changing up the differing tracks; from a sexy track [“Can’t You Tell”] to a great lead single in “What’s Up” to a darker track in “The Ruins,” Care is definitely one of the top records of the year so far.
Rating: Iconic
