How To Dress Well

ICA, London | 13 June

In the unique surroundings of the ICA’s theatre space, the unguarded nature of How To Dress Well’s songwriting seems as if it’s found a home. He tells fans that this is one of the last special one-off shows before the release of his third record What Is This Heart? The LP sees Krell break from the binding temperament of Total Loss and employ thicker, heavier sounds around his voice to tell a slightly wider story. Armed with backing vocalists, two microphones and an elaborate visual backdrop, the new LP comes to life in a raw and fragile fashion.

Opening with, A Power, Krell’s unmistakable falsetto sounds alive in the art-space. The unbelievable heat in the room makes up for a large portion of his on stage banter but he also mentions his father, his friend’s love life and the hard work of the crew before immersing himself in his downcast R&B numbers to a crowd that are fully hypnotised. When the arms crossed observers at the back of the room start to murmur during, Krell will launch in to a note so high in his range that they can’t help but look.

One highlight of the show comes in the form of Face Again where the warped baritone vocal plays call-and-respond with Krell’s haunted melody to create one of his greatest songs to date. When it comes to the moonlit glimmer of Words I Don’t Remember, Krell’s licks and ad-libs prove that he possesses the innate ability to make people move. Having seen him play throughout various stages of his trajectory, this was without a doubt Tom Krell at his most self-assured; talking to the crowd, sneakily breaking a grin during applause breaks and closing with an acapella rendition of & It Was U from Total Loss. Not a man reborn, but a performer revitalised.

The LP is being released later this month and it should mark a change in the story of How To Dress Well. The dreamy candour of his songwriting is now being driven by a thrilling confidence that comes through on record and on stage. Once & It Was U wraps up, he wanders off the stage and left the crowd at a loss of where to look. When a performer lays so much out on stage and uses their voice so fearlessly, it is almost impossible not to believe in it.

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Words: Duncan Harrison