How to Dress Well Opens Up About Sophomore LP, Covers Xiu Xiu

BY Alex HudsonPublished Feb 8, 2012

After establishing a murky R&B-noir style with 2010's Love Remains and then going orchestral in 2011 with the Just Once EP, songwriter Tom Krell is readying his second full-length album as How to Dress Well. And although we still don't have any of the specifics of the LP, it's evidently just about ready to go.

"I've just been working hard, very hard on a new record," Krell told FACT. "I'm so incredibly proud of this next LP, it really feels to me like I've done exactly what I set out to do, which is a really thrilling thing to be able to say. As an artist, it's such a rare feeling, to have achieved something that feels definitive -- I mean, the record has grown and changed since I first started on it, but it really captures what I've been feeling and thinking and what I want my music to be."

Krell went on explain that he began recording this collection before Love Remains came out, and even finished mixing one song on the same day that prior LP was released. And although he didn't say whether the album would revisit his bedroom-brewed electro style or venture into new territory, he confirmed that it will be touching on some deeply emotional subject matter.

"This next album is about opening my heart, opening myself, to receive an address from myself I've been waiting for, for too long," Krell explained. "A testament to the power of naive sentiment, the importance of vulnerable wistfulness, and to the rarity of bliss."

Below, listen to How to Dress Well's most recent release, a cover of Xiu Xiu's "Clowne Towne" for the start-up publication Ad Hoc.

"Xiu Xiu is one of my all-time favourites," Krell told FACT. "I want to hang with Jamie Stewart so badly! Fabulous Muscles is one of my all-time fave records, and 'Clowne Towne' is definitely in my top ten all-time songs."

How To Dress Well: "Clowne Towne (Xiu Xiu Cover)" by adhocfm

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