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As How to Dress Well, Tom Krell has made a name for himself as an oddball R&B minimalist, toggling from faded-sepia coos to emotive wails over his own sparse, invariably eerie beats. He’ll brighten his usual disposed palette a little tonight with backing players on piano and violin as well as moody light displays. Setting the downcast mood—and sharing How to Dress Well’s affinity for icy, mid-to-late-’90s hip-hop—will be Forest Swords, the project of English producer Matthew Barnes. Forest Swords’ songs combine ghostly guitars, spindly beats, and choruses of ethereal, chill-inducing voices, but unlike How to Dress Well, they locate their emotional payoffs in the steady amassing of musical ideas, not by belting into the void. How to Dress Well performs with Forest Swords at 7 p.m. at U Street Music Hall, 1115 U St. NW. $15. (202) 588-1880. ustreetmusichall.com.