Tom Krell, better known by his stage moniker How To Dress Well, is kind of a dork. The lo-fi R&B singer has a penchant for things like loves, secrets, and heartfelt declarations and nurses his hangovers by laying in bed all day and singing into his laptop. Dorkiness aside, these interests are justified when he releases heart-stopping singles like the lovestruck “& It Was U” or, more recently, the pensive “Words I Don’t Remember” — music to soundtrack bedroom activities other than sleeping.
Krell’s new album “What Is This Heart?” is out in June and he’s shared another taste of it in the funky, crystalline “Repeat Pleasure.” Here, the lyrics compliment the complex instrumental — free-form, yet structured — as Krell contemplates the effects of an all-ecompassing love in a stream of consciousness-like manner. “Now that I’ve known you, the truth could never come without your smile / And I should’ve warned you,” he sings before trailing off into the song’s bridge. The track twinkles as it ascends into the chorus, where Krell laments, “Even if you’re holding on for something unchanging / Once you’ve got it you want something else.” Thematically, the concept feels a bit confused, but, honestly, that’s love — something Krell has made a career of pointing out. C’est la vie.
