On the joy of directness
For quite some time now, Tom Krell, performing under the alias How to Dress Well, has been one of my favourite acts. I find it somewhat hard to describe his sound. The music definitely has an R&B undertone to it, but I feel it’s so much more than that - and constantly evolving. At times lo-fi, mostly electronic, often experimental in instrumentation and usually emotionally charged.
His background is in philosophy and academia, which means Krell is usually pretty apt in voicing his thoughts on music and life eloquently. Recently he was interviewed by the New York Times and discussed his latest work, stating how “art is able to produce affects of joy, which energize people against the forces of domination, energize people against cynicism and depression”.
This got me thinking about my everyday relationship with music (and art in general). In my day-to-day life I find art in all its forms (very often in the form of music) the perfect solution against cynicism and depression. One of the purposes of art is to bring meaning to our lives and inspire us to think about our relationship with the reality around us. And let’s face it - contemporary society sometimes offers nothing more than just that, cynicism and depression.
Another theme Krell discussed in the article was directness. “I’ve moved more and more, as an artist, toward directness, because I’m just surrounded by the indirectness and amorphousness and impressionistic character of whatever 21st-century life is”, Krell describes the recent developments in his artistry.
I love the idea of an accessible and direct work not being somehow less. Often we equate these qualities to something that is considered perhaps less profound or substantial. It might be rewarding to finally get one’s head around a piece of art that is impressionistic, inaccessible or indirect in many ways, but sometimes it’s even better to enjoy the direct side of life and art.
His comment on the indirectness and amorphousness of 21st-centrury life reflects well the sometimes confusing contemporary life of mediated realities and relationships.
Tom Krell’s photograph by Eric Sanchez.
