After The Weeknd’s triumvirate of great records,
introspection, ghostly falsetto and Class As are once more back on the menu
for RnB. A development which plays right into the hands of Brooklyn via Cologne
philosophy graduate, Thomas Krell aka How To Dress Well.
As the curtain rises on opener ‘When I was in Trouble’ a distant
train can be heard passing through a station but the gentle clip of wheels on
the track seems far away, as though you’re walking a dark street and feeling
the vibrations beneath your feet. It hardly counts as the calm before the storm,
when so much of this follow-up to the acclaimed ‘Love Remains’ is hushed and
downbeat but it serves to usher in a record which like The XX is all about the
subtle shifts in mood.
Throughout ‘Total Loss’ there’s a tremendous sense of the
space between notes; like snatches of melody fleetingly glimpsed from a moving
vehicle. Krell’s Prince-ly falsetto is impressive but never showy, merging seamlessly
with the sleek electro-soul arrangements. Track five ‘& It Was U’ also
adopts Prince’s penchant for dropping letters but more than makes up for its
incorrect orthography with cleverly layered vocals and heavy bass drum while ‘Cold
Nites’ piano and clicking rhythm track recall the XX as Krell wraps his vocal
chords round a vaporous melody.
At the centre of the record the otherworldly instrumental ‘World
I Need You, Won’t Be Without You (Proem)’ could easily pass for Sigur Ros, with
gorgeous visions thrown up like puffs of snow by little more than strings and a
few touches of percussion. You don’t get this with a Chris Brown album.
For a record inspired by the death of one of Krell’s best
friends often there is little in the way of concrete imagery, instead relying
on icy string samples and echoing drum machines to cover the gaps between his
haunting vocals. One of the weaknesses of ‘Total Loss’ is that if don’t you
approach it in the right mood, the down-tempo sonics coupled to helium vocals
can be difficult to embrace but persevere and you’ll be treated to an album
which turns the pains of depression and loss into a creative triumph.
Overall ‘Total Loss’ is a haunting and intelligent album
that will play well with a particular type of intellectual pop fan even if it won’t
quite knock Frank Ocean off his throne this year.
7.4
Max Sefton
