HOW TO DRESS WELL with EX REYES at the Mod Club (722 College), Wednesday (September 28), doors 8 pm. $15. ticketfly.com.
Since he began recording under the name How to Dress Well in 2009, Tom Krell has gone from an upstart recording cloudy R&B tracks in his bedroom to a complete artist making sincere, inventive, studio-built pop music.
On his fabulous new album, Care (Weird World/Domino), the Chicago-based singer/songwriter/producer channels an unlikely source for inspiration. Krell has admitted that one of his biggest musical heroes is Janet Jackson, whose Velvet Rope was the impetus for his 2012 album, Total Loss.
But on Care, he looked north of the border to a musician he felt had the disposition he hoped to adopt. He found that in Celine Dion.
Her template in terms of a lot of sonics, vocal manoeuvring and arrangements is a huge backbone of this record, Krell says. You can compare Celines On Ne Change Pas with a lot of stuff that is popping right now, whether its the new James Blake or Halsey or Kanye.
It might seem surprising for a critically acclaimed artist like How to Dress Well to praise a schmaltz peddler like Dion, but Care packs exactly the kind of mighty choruses, effusive lyrics and imposing production thats made Dion a huge star over the years. Even more than her music, Krell loves that she just doesnt seem to give a fuck about being cool.
You know when you watch the video for Thats The Way It Is and shes just sitting on a conference chair in a bomb-ass T.J. Maxx outfit? Krell asks. And she does the Celine Dion arm thing? She has zero interest in being cool. And its so cool.
Celine is thinking about something more real than just art or commerce. When [in On Ne Change Pas] she sings, Une toute petite fille at the end To all the little girls she still thinks theres something more important in music than being cool, and thats changing lives, he laughs. And I love it. For whatever reason, that is the concept of music that got imprinted on me.
Krell has taken the long road to get to an album like Care, but this kind of direct, expressive music has always been his endgame. As hes learned from Dion, appearing cool isnt the goal bringing pleasure to his fans is.
Ive always been earnest as fuck. It might be a little more advantageous to be cooler and have your guard up, but Ive never been compelled by that, he says. [Pleasing fans] wasnt always the number-one thing for me, but it hit me after being on tour so much.
These people who support me all over the world are giving me so much pleasure. Theyre giving me such a profound feeling of real, cosmic orientation, and thats such an insane gift to give.
How to Dress Wells Care isnt wholly the work of an artist listening to the complete works of Celine Dion. We asked Tom Krell to give us a taste of what he was listening to while working on the album. Heres the five-song playlist he compiled for us.
This is my favourite song of the year. Its such a perfect pop song. Its rigorously simple. When the pre-chorus comes in, it goes almost completely a cappella. And the chorus feels like it slams, but its still just nothing. Its so minimal and tempered. I just love his voice so much.
Im really obsessed with this one song from her Unapologetic record. It was on my pre-show playlist for the last four years or something. She wrote it with James Fauntleroy, and its a super-soulful, really direct song. I think it was the turning point in Rihannas career when she decided she wanted to do art and not just pop.
Such a beautiful song. Melodically it directly inspired a song on my record. (Youll be able to tell really easily.) All the songs Ive picked, you understand whats happening as you listen to them. They move and repeat, but in very special ways. Obviously, Russell was a completely certified genius. I might be the only person I know who goes hard for his cello stuff over everything else hes done. I really go in on his more ambient, orchestral phases. First Thought Best Thought is my favourite album of his.
I love her, and I think lyrically this is the closest thing to my spirituality. Its basically a religious text in my mind. The song starts with a refrain: Some day in bravery Ill embody all the grace and lightness. And then she goes on to describe different scenarios of that axiom, like falling in love with someone, and seeing her friends become friends with her other friends. Its such a beautiful thing to cherish. I love it. Im completely moved every time I listen to it.
I would go out on a limb and say its my favourite R&B song of the last three years. Its extremely simple and super-direct, almost to the point of being dumb. The chorus is I wanna freak u down, and the verse I tried to call you yesterday but you declined my name / you play too many games. But something in the delivery and the abstractness and slight weirdness of the production keeps it from being a banger. I think that gives it this emotional and powerful payload. In my head I always think of the end as being way more anthemic, but then on paper its just so extremely simple.
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