If you were born in the early 90’s, you might have discovered a few years back a vague but fond recollection of R&B radio hits of that decade. You’ll recognize the names: Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Jodeci and their spin-off K-Ci & JoJo, Boyz II Men… Keith Sweat. This rekindled affection may have stemmed, in part, from releases like Love Remains, How To Dress Well’s first album. That album sounded like a half-remembered memory in and of itself, hazy and collaged together, and helped spawn a tackily-named sub-genre whose artists helped push the boundaries of popular music in turn. Now, that movement has played out in the same way that so many others have in the Internet age, with the wheat separating itself from the chaff through instantly classic albums. Krell has solidified his status in that superior group with his latest release, What Is This Heart?
In his relatively short career, Krell has time and time again pushed the boundaries of R&B in exciting directions by refracting pop music through his own lens. Up to this point, his songs have played like deliciously deconstructed or even outright damaged gems, simultaneously proving the worth and endurance of a good pop song, first through the noise of Love Remains, and then by pulling that noisy veil back to reveal how vulnerable silence can sound on Total Loss, his previous full-length. What Is This Heart? synthesizes those aural theses into actual pop music; it achieves universality while also breaking its own new ground. Newness in the idea that the sounds found on this album are the result of a careful distillation and reduction of pop music trends of the last three decades, bringing out the highest physical and emotional catharsis within each song. The bass and synth strings on “What You Wanted”, screwed vocals on “Face Again”, subtle, slightly 808s and Heartbreaks auto-tune on “Precious Love”, the Purple Rain coda homage on “Words I Don’t Remember”, and guitar sounds pulled from just about everywhere in 80s and 90s music found throughout the album are all executed with enough precision and restraint to remind you why Top 40 radio overuses them. Much in the way that Love Remains rekindled a love for that later period of R&B, What Is This Heart? lets the listener delight in the blur of something new, exciting, and yet somehow familiar.
Part of this credit has to be given to producer Rodaidh McDonald, who worked with Krell on Total Loss. The pristine sheen he applies here is similar to the kind found on that album, but emphasizes the usage of space to more dramatic effect. This is especially apparent on the balladesque tracks “See You Fall” and “Pour Cyril,” where washes of sound fill formerly naked space epically yet without bombast. The opener, “2 Years On (Shame Dream)”, evokes a humbleness even as it reaches a crescendo, a breath of noise behind Krell’s singing of shaaaame on a note just out of your range. Those signature super-processed Love Remains-style vocals appear now and then to raise the stakes, to build that cathedral of harmony as only found on How To Dress Well records. But the presence of these large sounds act as the atmosphere for other, smaller sounds to exist in, as is the case with “What You Wanted”. A wood-knock rhythm and synth-y sounding guitar flourish against the aforementioned synth strings and huge bass, popping out and making memories. It’s a special moment early on in an album filled with them.
How To Dress Well’s focal point, even in its noisier days, has always been on the vocals. Krell is at his strongest both vocally and lyrically on this album, his falsetto soaring as he ruminates on love of the familial and romantic variety, as well as philosophy approaching religion and death. “2 Years On (Shame Dream)” is a stark vignette about family, love, and things that are out of one’s control. Despite being perhaps the most sonically minimalist of the tracks, it sets the tone of the album through its emotional honesty. This is punctuated and emphasized through the rhythm of Krell’s delivery, which has always been one of his strongest assets. “No one ever told you life would be this unfair but oh it is” stands out in that song as it builds and tumbles down, notes and rhythm working in unison, poetic without pulling punches. On the follow up song, “What You Wanted”, a staccato performance in the first verse leads into a chorus that dominates rhythmically: “You never say just what you wanted when you want it”. The lyrics do venture into more impressionistic territories at times, but never at the expense of conveying some kind of feeling. The previous two HTDW albums established that Krell does that well, but when “Face Again” conveys personal conflict and confusion in such a way that you’re yelling them with him like you’re at Warped Tour, you realize that he’s developed his songwriting talent even further. “House Inside (Future is Older than the Past)” is as close to gospel music as philosophy (writ large) is going to get, providing hope without explanation or resolution, but merely the statement “this world is such a pretty thing”. It’s a beautiful way to end an album that spends its time expressing the tension between hopes and tribulations.
The most succinct summation of the entire album lies in the three song run of “Repeat Pleasure”, “Words I Don’t Remember”, and “Pour Cyril”. It has the hooks, emotional bareness, and penchant for the epic. And even with that, it doesn’t tell the full story of an album that begs to be taken fully in a single dose. If Total Loss was supposed to sprawl with sincerity a la Janet Jackson’s Velvet Rope, then WITH takes that sprawl and personal honesty and condenses it while also amplifying every eccentricity, every signature sound within each song. The entire album is a masterpiece in that it captures Krell’s vision of “pop without being populist,” and is the strongest evidence of “artistic growth” that any artist has shown in years, however misconstrued that notion may be.
-Kyle J. Greco
Kyle is a freelance audio engineer, composer, and writer with a fondness for the offbeat. He can be found on his bike in Central NJ attempting to maintain his punk rock ideals.