The Anteroom

The Anteroom was conceptualized when Krell relocated to Los Angeles after the United States 2016 election, and was created as a "testament" to the 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] With the album, he aimed to return to the experimental sounds of his early work, but more cohesive and detailed; the press release describes the album as a 'single continuous piece of 21st century psychedelic music'.[11] The press release for The Anteroom described the album as utilizing "blizzardous electronic noise, fragile melodies and poignant poetry",[2] and compared the album to a weighted blanket.[2] It also detailed the album's artistic and literary inspirations, citing:

Inspired by Coil (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's Unknown 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 presents The Anteroom.[2]

Krell also published a Spotify playlist titled "The Anteroom Influences (LOTOU 1.1)" which documented the album's overall musical influences, as well as songs he listened to before and after the production of the album.[12]

Artist and producer Joel Ford, who contributed to The Anteroom, was described as a "technical facilitator" and a medium, and Krell admitted that his production on the album lead to his interest and passion for music being renewed, after a prior negative experience.[13] Krell coped with "super mangled emotions" through Ford's presence in the studio.[13] They also developed the phrase "Incomplete Picture", which described their production process and tendencies to engage in minimalism and creating "openness for the listening act".[13]

The Anteroom is stylistically radically different from Krell's prior album under How To Dress Well, Care (2016), which was focused strictly on contemporary R&B and synthpop. In comparison, The Anteroom focuses deeply on experimental electronic music, ambient music and post-industrial music with abstracted pop songwriting, which was described as "bewitching sound experimentation". Prior to the album's release, Krell addressed that he was "no longer making music for the algorithm", and has called it his "most sonically, biographically and conceptually detailed and intense record to date".[14] 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 corpse of itself".[15] The album also lyrically addresses elements of Krell's own personal life, most emphasized 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 references Maggie Nelson's Bluets multiple times, "Nonkilling 6 | Hunger" begins with a sample of a reading of Li-Young Lee's poem "The Cleaving", and "Brutal | False Skull 5" uses vocal samples of readings of poems by Ocean Vuong, Anne Sexton and Frank Bidart. Krell commented that "the way [he] write[s] is very free associative",[13] and that he "had a canon of books [he] was reading; over and over, books of poetry that were essential"; he compared himself to a channel for such works.[13]

All tracks are written by Tom Krell unless indicated, and co-produced by Joel Ford and Michael Silver.

Sample credits

• "Nonkilling 6 | Hunger" samples "The Cleaving" written and spoken by Li-Young Lee and a sound effect from Hunger (2008) directed by Steve McQueen[16]
• "Love Means Taking Action" interpolates "Love Means Taking Action" by Croatian Amor
• "Brutal | False Skull 5" samples "After Rapture" written and spoken by Ocean Vuong, elements of "Wanting To Die" written and spoken by Anne Sexton, and elements of "Valentine" written and spoken by Frank Bidart