Crack

Since dropping debut album Love Remains on the Lefse label in 2010, How To Dress Well, the creative persona of philosophy graduate and generally lovely man Tom Krell, has enjoyed a burgeoning reputation, standing at the forefront of a scene of one. Having witnessed an impassioned performance at Sonar earlier this year hampered only by a slightly incompetent sound guy, Crack arrived at Thekla eager to see an extremely current artist in an intimate environment.

Support act Grimes produces an intriguing yet frustrating set. Her music exudes such a self-assurance that it’s a real surprise to see a girl almost crippled with nerves. The young Canadian leaves herself exposed onstage, standing alone behind a simple desk armed with a Roland, mic stand, a couple of electronic nick-nacks and a plain white mug. Her eerie, effect-laden pop is ambitious and skillfully pulled off, her voice in particular varying between husky whispers and almost piercing high notes, but it’s undermined by her constantly stopping, telling us that she’s messed up, apologizing ... Please stop, you’re really good. Her tracks are also inexplicably quiet, beats plipping and plopping rather than having any real impact. She ends with another apology, wearily unplugging a keyboard almost the size of her and dragging it away herself. Bless. If she could find an onstage presence to match her evident talent, she could be a real anti-pop-star.

A typically understated “Hi, I’m Tom” heralds the arrival of How To Dress Well. His wiry, black-clad figure shuffles onto the darkened stage so surreptitiously that it takes the room a few moments to realize that the show is upon us.

Before he has even begun, he implores the crowd to gather closer to the stage, and to him, and to each other. “It’s ok to be close to one another”, he mutters. It should be cheesy – we’re all gnarled old cynics these days, aren’t we? – but it’s just not. It’s not because, as with everything HTDW does, it’s done with an honesty, an integrity and a generosity of spirit that’s completely infectious. It’s so unfashionable to put yourself out there in the way he does, but he can’t help it. He loves to perform, he loves making music and he is utterly in love with the music he makes. All this is undeniable.

As he writhes and contorts in front of each track’s custom-made and beguiling visual, his dimly lit face is drawn in sheer emotion, his falsetto never shrill but stirring and tender. His melodies draw on the lush craftsmanship of Jeff Buckley and even the slick soul of Mayer Hawthorne, but he is essentially an R&B artist, owing much to R Kelly and all that business. You’ve never heard it like this though. It comes washed in layer upon layer of reverb and atmospherics, vocals not so much cutting through the tracks as carrying them. Songs like Lover’s Start and Ready for the World possess a certain swagger and the occasional deep bass kick to accompany the textured ambience, but it’s the sublimely haunting Escape Before the Rain which really steals the show. An a capella encore has the room rapt, Tom performing accompanied only by his own finger-clicks (having begged the crowd not to clap along), gradually pulling further away from the mic until he sings un-amplified and un-effected. It’s an appropriately delicate end to a fine show from an artist furrowing his own, intensely personal and entirely distinctive path.

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Words: Geraint Davies

http://howtodresswell.blogspot.com/

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