Live Review: How To Dress Well & Axolotl

Opening the show to a small crowd, Melbourne band Axolotl powered through tracks such as Candy, Garden Lane and Night Driver. Fronted by eclectic singer Ella Thompson the indie/electronic act are set to soon release their first EP, entitled Autonomy. With obvious influences like Little Dragon and Radiohead, the band's performance was a pleasure to the eardrums.

Gracing the stage around the 9.30pm mark, Tom Krell aka Mr How to Dress Well himself let the crowd know he was 'tired' and 'jetlagged' having just performed shows in Chicago and Hong Kong, before encouraging them to move from the seated areas to the front of the stage. Other than Krell's stage presence, the one thing that really stands out about the artist is his amazing vocal range. In an age of auto-tune and well, really, a lack of vocal talent, Krell's voice is not only refreshing but simply breathtaking.

Performing mostly from his two albums Love Remains and Total Loss, as well as few unreleased tracks, Krell put on the kind of performance that really just sticks in your mind, and pulls on your heartstrings too. A diagnosed depressive, Krell's sadness and angst certainly take over his music and lyrics. During his one hour set he performed his mainstays, such as Running Back, Suicide Dream 2, & It Was U, Ready For The World and Ocean Floor For Everything.

Krell's falsetto was mind-blowing as he performed Talking To You, a song he wrote as a duet but sings alone. Closing his set with new track Set It Right (which he told his audience would have a video out in March) and an encore performance of Blue, a capella no less, just enforced the fact that Krell's vocal ability is something most singers would kill for.