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How to Dress Well // What is This Heart?
For his third album under the moniker How to Dress Well, Tom Krell showcases his R&B-tinged pop sound in various states of undress.
July 9, 2014 at 9:10 AM
How to Dress Well
What is This Heart?
Weird World
4 Stars
For his third album under the moniker How to Dress Well, Tom Krell showcases his R&B-tinged pop sound in various states of undress. What is This Heart? starts off nearly naked, with the sparse opener "2 Years On (Shame Dream)," a delicate acoustic piece that keeps Krell's delicate vocals front and center, carefully plucked guitar and minimal effects propping up his quiet story. Slowly, the album starts to add on to its sonic wardrobe, with some strained strings and hypnotic backing vocals in "See You Fall" and the reverberating final minute of "Words I Don't Remember." From there, Krell adds on extra layers for "Childhood Faith in Love (Everything Must Change, Everything Must Stay the Same)" and "A Power," a pair of tracks that keep building until you can't help but get hooked. There are some clunky pieces, like "Very Best Friend," on What is This Heart?, but Krell's latest album has plenty of other good ensembles in its musical wardrobe. — Alex Bieler