‘Love Remains’ for Tom Krell

How to Dress Well is the musical alias of Tom Krell, a resident of Brooklyn and Cologne.
Krell recently released his debut LP, “Love Remains,” and while the album is frustrating at times, it’s also absorbing and haunting.

How to Dress Well has been labeled as an R&B project, but that’s a stretch. Krell’s music sounds closest to Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver, with plenty of falsetto vocals and sparse, ethereal textures. Nobody is calling Bon Iver’s music R&B.

The poor descriptions shouldn’t scare anyone away, though. The music on “Love Remains” is often hypnotizing, and Krell’s voice floats above the fray.

The biggest problem with “Love Remains” is its lo-fi-ness.

The sound that stands in for bass drum is similar to a cardboard box being kicked, while the album constantly clips and distorts. A little bit of hiss adds warmth; a lot is just annoying.

Those complaints don’t do much to sully the impact of “Love Remains.” It’s impossible not to be sucked into the music.

Suggestion: listen while driving alone at night.