How to Dress Well
Just Once [EP]
Release Date: Jul 12, 2011
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
Record label: Love Letters Ink
Music Critic Score
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Album Review: Just Once [EP] by How to Dress Well
Great, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 7.8/10
Tom Krell's debut LP as How to Dress Well, last year's Love Remains, consisted mostly of songs gathered from numerous digital EPs he'd been posting on his blog. Love Remains picked the best of these tracks and arranged them into a set that felt like a coherent outline of the project: ethereal home recordings, more about mood and texture than lyrics or melody, that draw from mainstream pop and R&B but transform some of the formal qualities of those genres via a lo-fi, "feel"-oriented setting. Since then, critics have discussed Frank Ocean, the Weeknd, and other artists alongside How to Dress Well to define a loose trend of the young, urban hip embracing a version of R&B, but to me Krell's music has always sounded more like an art project and less like something that truly touches on what is, after all, a supremely populist (and popular) genre.
Based on rating B
Prior to last year’s debut LP, Love Remains, Tom Krell, under the moniker How to Dress Well, released a series of home-recorded EPs on his blog to increasing buzz. Soon enough, Krell received universal praise for his lo-fi spin on the sounds of late 80’s and early 90’s R&B, elevating him as an outright critical darling. With his latest release, the Just Once EP, Krell aims to redefine How to Dress Well.