The Anteroom
| The Anteroom | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio albumby | ||||
| Released | October 19, 2018 | |||
| Recorded | 2016–2018 | |||
| Studio | Pat House, Los Angeles | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 57:24 | |||
| Label | Domino | |||
| Producer |
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| How to Dress Wellchronology | ||||
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| SinglesfromThe Anteroom | ||||
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| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 74/100[3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| DIY | [5] |
| Dork | [6] |
| Drowned in Sound | 4/10[7] |
| The Line of Best Fit | 7.5/10[8] |
| MusicOMH | [9] |
| Pitchfork | 7.3/10[1] |
The Anteroomis the fifthstudio albumby American singer-songwriter Tom Krell, best known under his project nameHow to Dress Well,released on October 19, 2018 digitally and physically onDomino.The album was influenced by a spiritually intense period in Krell's life, as well as his renewed interest inexperimentalelectronicmusic with abrasive and atmospheric textures that he had explored at the beginning of his career.
Background and composition
[edit]Krell initially conceptualizedThe Anteroomwhen he relocated toLos Angelesafter theUnited States 2016 election,and intended it as a "testament" to a two-year spiritually exploratory and intense period in his life that followed where he "felt [himself] slipping out of the world and into a cosmic loneliness in which [he] would eventually be dissolved".[10]Prior to the album's release, Krell addressed that he was "no longer making music for thealgorithm".[11]With the album, he aimed to return to theexperimental-,ambient- andnoise-influenced sounds of his early work, but more cohesive and detailed; the press release subsequently described the album as a "single continuous piece of 21st centurypsychedelic music".[12]Domino described the album as incorporating "blizzardous electronic noise, fragile melodies and poignantpoetry",[2]and compared the album to aweighted blanket.[2]Krell also detailed the album's artistic and literary inspirations, citing:
Inspired byCoil(especially the "Moon Musick"phase),Robert Ashley,Kathy Acker,Helena Hauff,Neil Landstrumm,Front 242,Paul B. Preciado,"Acid Mt. Fuji,"Dambudzo Marechera,Vatican Shadow,Joy Division'sUnknown Pleasures,Alec Empire,Akira Rabelais,Frank Bidart,Basic Channel,Ocean Vuong,Silvia Federici,Maggie Nelson,Alejandra Pizarnik,demonic negative transcendence, the end of life on the earth: How to Dress Well presentsThe Anteroom.[2]
Krell additionally published aSpotifyplaylist titled "The Anteroom Influences (LOTOU 1.1)" which documented the album's overall musical influences, as well as songs he listened to before and during the production of the album as reference points for its production style and emotional tone.[13]
Artist and producer Joel Ford, who contributed production and engineering toThe Anteroom,was described as a "facilitator" and amedium,and Krell admitted that his production on the album lead to Ford's interest and passion for music being renewed after a prior negative experience;[14]Krell coped with "super mangled emotions" through Ford's presence in the studio.[14]They also developed a technique known as "Incomplete Picture", an analogy for their gradually reductive production process and tendencies to engage inminimalism,creating "openness for the listening act".[14]
Concept and influences
[edit]The Anteroomis stylistically radically different from Krell's prior album under How to Dress Well,Care(2016), which was focused strictly oncontemporary R&Bandsynthpop.In comparison,The Anteroomfocuses mainly onexperimentalelectronicmusic,ambient musicandpost-industrial musicwithabstractedpop songwriting, which was described as "bewitchingsound experimentation ". Prior to the album's release, Krell called it his" most sonically, biographically and conceptually detailed and intense record to date ".[11]He also admitted that he "got in such an intense space mentally",[15]and that the album ended up becoming "this kind of big,exquisite corpseof itself ".[15]The album also lyrically addresses elements of Krell's own personal life, emphasized the most on "Nonkilling 6 | Hunger", "July 13 No Hope No Pain", and "Love Means Taking Action".
The album features literary and poetic references; the title track, "The Anteroom", lyrically referencesMaggie Nelson'sBluetsmultiple times, "Nonkilling 6 | Hunger" begins with a sample of a reading ofLi-Young Lee's poem "The Cleaving", and "Brutal | False Skull 5" uses vocal samples of readings of poems byOcean Vuong,Anne SextonandFrank Bidart.Krell commented that "the way [he] write[s] is very free associative",[14]and that he "had a canon of books [he] was reading; over and over, books of poetry that were essential"; he compared himself to achannelfor such works.[14]
Album art
[edit]The album cover of The Anteroom, different for the CD and vinyl editions, was created by Krell in collaboration with artist and friend Joshua Clancy. The deluxe vinyl edition in particular features art created in a "VRcave "on theOculus Rift,which Krell and Clancy described as a "hyper-Lascauxat the end of the world ".[11]
Track listing
[edit]All tracks are written by Tom Krell unless indicated, and co-produced by Joel Ford andMichael Silver
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Humans Disguised as Animals | Nonkilling 1" | 4:50 | |
| 2. | "Body Fat" | 5:02 | |
| 3. | "False Skull 7" | 1:13 | |
| 4. | "Nonkilling 3 | The Anteroom | False Skull 1" | 6:42 | |
| 5. | "Vacant Boat" | 3:03 | |
| 6. | "Nonkilling 13 | Ceiling for the Sky" |
| 5:21 |
| 7. | "A Memory, The Spinning of a Body | Nonkilling 2" | 5:04 | |
| 8. | "Nonkilling 6 | Hunger" | 5:40 | |
| 9. | "July 13 No Hope No Pain" | 6:35 | |
| 10. | "Love Means Taking Action" |
| 4:23 |
| 11. | "Brutal | False Skull 5" | 3:20 | |
| 12. | "False Skull 12" | 2:20 | |
| 13. | "Nothing" | 3:52 | |
| Total length: | 57:24 | ||
Sample credits
- "Nonkilling 6 | Hunger" samples "The Cleaving" written and spoken byLi-Young Leeand a sound effect fromHunger(2008) directed bySteve McQueen[16]
- "Love Means Taking Action" interpolates "Love Means Taking Action" by Croatian Amor
- "Brutal | False Skull 5" samples "After Rapture" written and spoken byOcean Vuong,elements of "Wanting To Die" written and spoken byAnne Sexton,and elements of "Valentine" written and spoken byFrank Bidart
References
[edit]- ^abc"How to Dress Well - The Anteroom | Pitchfork Media".pitchfork.com.RetrievedJanuary 8,2020.
- ^abcde"How To Dress Well - The Anteroom – Rough Trade".Rough Trade.RetrievedJanuary 30,2019.
- ^"Metacritic Review".Metacritic.RetrievedAugust 12,2020.
- ^Phares, Heather."AllMusic Review".AllMusic.RetrievedAugust 12,2020.
- ^Goggins, Joe."DIY Magazine Review".DIY.RetrievedAugust 13,2020.
- ^Young, Martyyn (October 16, 2018)."Dork Magazine Review".Dork.RetrievedAugust 13,2020.
- ^Wilkinson, Henry (October 26, 2018)."Drowned in Sound Review".Drowned in Sound.RetrievedAugust 13,2020.
- ^Biddles, Claire (October 18, 2018)."The new record from How To Dress Well is an urgent, uneasy return".The Line of Best Fit.RetrievedAugust 13,2020.
- ^Devlin, Ben (October 15, 2018)."MusicOMH Review".MusicOMH.RetrievedAugust 13,2020.
- ^"How To Dress Well Announces The Anteroom, Shares" Nonkilling 6 | Hunger "| Music News | Consequence of Sound".Consequence of Sound.RetrievedSeptember 17,2018.
- ^abc"The Inside Story of How To Dress Well's Music, as Told by How To Dress Well".AnotherMan.RetrievedJanuary 30,2019.
- ^"How To Dress Well announces new album The Anteroom".Domino Music.RetrievedOctober 16,2018.
- ^"The Anteroom Influences (LOTOU 1.1) | Spotify".Spotify.RetrievedOctober 16,2018.
- ^abcde"How To Dress Well talks philosophy, metaphysics, duality, and the truth in 'The Anteroom' [Interview]".Earmilk.RetrievedJanuary 30,2019.
- ^ab"How To Dress Well The Anteroom Interview".Red Bull.RetrievedJanuary 30,2019.
- ^"Class of 2018 – The 100 Greatest Songs of the Year!".Songs For Whoever.RetrievedJanuary 30,2019.
