What Is This Heart?

Chicago-based producer and singer Tom Krell, who makes his own music under the alias of How To Dress Well, is among the most interesting protagonists of today’s pop avant-garde. His urgent falsetto’s laments are backed by lovingly tinkered beats and crackling sound panoramas. At times, his songs sound like they come from a worn shellac record: As a contrast with today’s rampant retro trend, Tom Krell positions second-order nostalgia, where musical memory itself becomes the subject. The performance that he has developed for Foreign Affairs with Brendan Fernandes and Simon Portigal follows the same principle: In a continual composition of all songs from his new album “What Is This Heart?”, designed especially for this concert, the dancers strike attitude and poses that appear to be a memory of typical modern dance movements. How To Dress Well’s music was re-orchestrated for a string ensemble by Californian arranger Minna Choi.