in fact, it's pretty bloody good indeed.

it starts off all spectral and wintry; tom krell sounds reminiscent of a maxwell gone goth on the opening 'when i was in trouble'. it's also strikingly lucid for his oddly titled moniker, who's often content to be obscured to the point of dreamy illegibility. he's come out of his shell a bit, it seems, and actually singing discernible lyrics to his brand of dream-r&b.

krell has been co-produced this time by rodaidh mcdonald (the xx) and they've built quite a sound. a total loss is most atmospheric, what with the ghostly choirs with massive reverb and random vocal samples. there are steve reich type piano loops. there are strings and there are at times surprisingly banging beats. krell's falsetto soars gloriously over all the fractured soundscapes.

the result is most affecting. total loss is a most reflective album culminating in the smashing 'set it right' where krell lists off a bunch of people who he misses, and sounding something like their take on a michael jackson big ballad.

it's an album of loss and longing and yet it's ultimately hopeful. how to dress well have created something special with this album: an album to get lost in.

album stream can be found at the fader here:
http://www.thefader.com/2012/09/10/stream-how-to-dress-wells-album-total-loss/

& it was u
http://soundcloud.com/howtodresswell/how-to-dress-well-it-was-u-1

is beautiful yo
had my eyes welling up late at night listening to Love Remains

he hasn't fallen off either

he should work with Drake
I believe them working together would touch my soul yo
gently caress it

they could make beautiful emo music together I believe.

gotta listen more

nothing hitting me on first listen like "ready for the world" though

i love this guy

Bandcamp/IG/FB/Twitter: @hecticzeniths

and i liked the first album.

I tend to get him & Active Child confused.

it takes a muscle.

Love the feel and texture of it. Took a couple spins to really wrap my head around the songs but it seems like one of those that's just gonna get better with each listen.

Glad I did a search and found your review. Had a feeling you might be up on this.

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http://talestosuffice.com/
@kennykeil

did you hear dude's first album?

I'm trying to just absorb one album at a time here but I went ahead and peeped that 'Ready for the World' song because so much of Total Loss sounds like if Ready for the World teamed up with Prince and Jon Brion to record an album of gregorian chants

The elements this guy is putting together is amazing. Anyone else doing stuff like this I should be aware of?

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http://talestosuffice.com/
@kennykeil

...you should also check out Active Child, D'eon, The Cold Napoleons & Autre Ne Veut.

Esteemed author of the celebrated, double-platinum post: "Drake - Wu-Tang Forever".

still amazing

Bandcamp/IG/FB/Twitter: @hecticzeniths