Total Loss (album)

Total Loss
Studio album by How to Dress Well
Released	October 2, 2012
Genre	Alternative R&B ambient
Length	42:15
Label	Acéphale Records, Weird World
Producer	How to Dress Well, Rodaidh McDonald, Forest Swords
How to Dress Well chronology
Love Remains (2010) Total Loss (2012) "What Is This Heart?" (2014)

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	77/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
BPM	85%[3]
Pitchfork	8.4/10[4]
The Guardian	[5]
Fact Magazine	[6]
NME	8/10[7]
Clash Music	8/10[8]
Consequence of Sound	[9]

Total Loss is the second studio album by American musician How to Dress Well. It was released in September 2012 on Acephale Records in North America and Weird World Records in other regions.^[10][11] The track "Cold Nites", which was co-written and co-produced by Forest Swords, was released as a single.

Acclaimed by critics, the album was listed 33rd on Stereogum's list of top 50 albums of 2012.^[12]

Background

How to Dress Well spoke about the influence for the album, Janet Jackson's "The Velvet Rope".

The main thing I took from her is sort of this self-trust, self-care, emotional honesty thing. Velvet Rope is an amazing example. She set such an example for trusting yourself, and following that intuition wherever it takes you. She could've made an entire record of "Together Again"'s—eleven of those. But she made a fucking sprawling masterpiece with a song from every genre, and it works. Because you see her discerning taste in every single track, and every single track, and every single choice, every musical instrument. Some songs her voice is all distorted, and in other songs it's so close to the mic that it sounds like she's singing in your ear—you can hear her lip-smacking and shit. It's a total statement, This is me kind of record. And I like writing different kinds of songs.

Total Loss is a bunch of different kinds of songs on it. I was like, "Shit, how do I make this record?" Do I pick one and stick with it and write all those? No, that would be truncating this sense I have that all these songs are special and valuable. And so that album [Velvet Rope] to me became a shining light of how to make an album that's totally true to yourself, and is about taking proper care of yourself, and paying attention to your spirit, and trusting that it'll all hang together even if there's all different kinds of vibes on the record. And for me, "Together Again" is infinitely more special because it's this little gem on that otherwise very different record. If it were a whole record of "Together Again"'s, I'd probably love the song but I don't know if in the same way.

I've loved The Velvet Rope since it came out. It's been one of my favorite records for many years. I think when I started working on Total Loss and seeing like shit, this fits together for me in the same way that I felt like the Velvet Rope fit together. And I kind of learned over the course of making my record, and really attentively listening to Janet's record, that it had more of an influence on me that I had even realized. So like, it's really funny to learn through making a record that I've had this record playing in the back of my mind for a decade. I mean there's some shit on The Velvet Rope that's absolutely next-level—still today. Untouchable.

— How to Dress Well, The Influence of Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope on The Album – Who is How To Dress Well?

A cover of Janet Jackson's "Again" appears on a bonus 7" included with select versions of the album.^[13][14]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"When I Was in Trouble"	3:22
2.	"Cold Nites"	3:38
3.	"Say My Name or Say Whatever"	4:24
4.	"Running Back"	3:17
5.	"& It Was U"	3:04
6.	"World I Need You, Won't Be Without You (Proem)"	2:48
7.	"Struggle"	4:28
8.	"How Many?"	5:02
9.	"Talking to You"	4:14
10.	"Set It Right"	4:46
11.	"Ocean Floor for Everything"	3:12

Bonus 7"^[15][16][17]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Again" (Janet Jackson cover)	4:25
2.	"Blue Crystal Fire" (Robbie Basho cover)	4:56
3.	"Set It Right" (a capella version)	4:25

References

1. "Total Loss Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
2. Phares, Heather. Total Loss – How to Dress Well at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
3. Fleming, Weston (2012-09-24). "Album Review". Beats Per Minute (website). Retrieved 2012-10-03.
4. Cohen, Ian (2012-09-20). "How to Dress Well Review". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
5. Simpson, Dave (2012-09-20). "How to Dress Well: Total Loss – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
6. Calvert, John. "Total Loss Review". Fact Magazine (United Kingdom). Retrieved 2012-10-03.
7. Calvert, John (2012-09-07). "Album Reviews". NME. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
8. Anderson, Errol (2012-09-13). "Total Loss Review". Clash Music. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
9. Arroyo, Steven (2012-09-18). "Album Review". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
10. "Acephale Records – How to Dress Well". acephale.bigcartel.com. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
11. "Weird World Records Releases". weirdworldrecordco.com. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
12. "Stereogum's Top 50 Albums Of 2012". 5 December 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
13. How To Dress Well Covers Janet Jackson
14. Acéphale – ACE025 – How To Dress Well – Total Loss (LP)
15. "Janet – Again (HTDW Version)". Retrieved 21 June 2014.
16. "Blue Crystal Fire (Robbie Basho cover)". Retrieved 21 June 2014.
17. Set It Right (A Capella Version) – Bonus Track on iTunes