Though the genre was worlds removed from the indie-rock ofthe time, the commercial R&B of the late ’90s was shaded with somber undertonesthat pair remarkably well with the more electronic, experimental indie-rock oftoday. Two of last year’s breakthrough indie records, the Dirty Projectors’Bitte Orca and The xx’s self-titled debut, made overt references to early Timbalandand Aaliyah; this year records from Sonnymoon, First Rate People, Pit Er Patand Everything Everything have paid homage to that same era of R&B.
None of these acts, though, have so thoroughly immersedthemselves in turn-of-the-century R&B as How To Dress Well, the one-manband of Germany-born, Brooklyn based songwriter Tom Krell. Krell patterns hisphrasing after Usher, Aaliyah, Mariah Carey and, in particular, Janet Jackson,though he sings in an overstretched falsetto that most recalls Bon Iver’sJustin Vernon (a comparison that much easier to make since Vernon indulged hisown R&B tendencies on this spring’s Gayngs album). R&B isn’t an accent to Krell’s songs; it’s theirfoundation, and he displays a melodic sensibility that rivals the genre’s topsongwriters.
Where Krell breaks significantly from genre orthodoxy, then,is in recording technique. Where modern R&B is crisply produced andpolished to a perfectionist sheen, Krell’s records are ambient and minimalist,and at times lo-fi to a fault. How To Dress Well’s striking debut record, LoveRemains, out later this month on Lefse records, plays like it was mixed by themost resentful engineer ever. Big moments are muffled, key lyrics are indecipherable,and levels fluctuate wildly mid-song, often maxing out so Krell’s voice isdistorted and ugly. It’s all quite deliberate, and though these productiontricks eclipse songs that might work well, or even better, in a hi-fi setting,they create a poignant mood piece. Love Remains is one of the most compellingtestaments yet to how well R&B signifiers once exclusive to their parentgenre can work in completely foreign contexts. %uFFFD%uFFFD
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