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How to Dress Well and Shlohmo Craft Hazy Heartache in ‘Don’t Say No’ Video

How to Dress Well Shlohmo 'Don't Say No' Video

The Weeknd’s soul-sucking R&B gets a less lascivious rebirth in Shlohmo’s “Don’t Say No” featuring How to Dress Well. The Los Angeles ambient pop producer provides the perfect score for the Chicago songsmith’s pained cooing. Slowly swinging drums collide with trap percussion, shimmering guitar colors the track, and swirls of warm atmospheric fuzz give the song its billowing shape. The bare-bones clip above mimics that hazy environment by swathing HTDW’s Tom Krell in a heavy red fog that’s occasionally haunted by the presence of a young woman. Beatsmith Henry Laufer is nowhere to be seen but his presence is felt.

The clip premiered via Dazed Digital, who spoke to the video’s creator. Nic Brown explained that the bloody tint was chosen to “depict an inner world. Heartache, haunting memories. The video is meant to be like a mirror [to] the viewer. It’s supposed to be a sort of conduit to an emotional experience, but without the viewer’s participation it’s just a bunch of meaningless images. If somebody feels something from the video, or sees something about themselves in it, it’s a very beautiful thing to me.” Beauty and intimacy are par for the course when Shlohmo and How to Dress Well unite.

The track hails from the former’s March Laid Out EP, available via Friends of Friends Music.