The xx “xx” Review

The xx are an interesting band for many reasons, the most compelling of which is how they go about creating the ambiance on their excellent debut album. The songs are chilly and lush, but don’t rely on electronic flourishes. The four piece band from London rely strictly on a standard guitar, bass and drums set up and still find a way to create music that sounds as unique as any released this year. The vocals, sung with incredible sensuality by male-female lead singers Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sims, seem both sincere and sweet while keeping an air of detachment that adds to the sexuality of the music.

The xx are a group of four 20 year olds, so it shouldn’t come to a surprise to anyone that their debut album is oozing with stories of sex. Croft and Sims (who also plays the bass) trade lines back and forth about the longing for, the memory of, and the regret that is intertwined with their past relationships. The pent up sexual tension is mixed perfectly with the sparse musical background, which only adds to the group’s compelling tension that is omnipresent on the disc. The band, rounded out by guitarist Baria Qureshi and beats/production guru Jamie Smith, create an arresting canvass for the singers’ stories of love and lust.

Starting off with the reverb drenched guitar stabs of opening song “Intro,” the band creates stark but engaging sonic templates that are equally minimalistic and massive, especially when listened to on headphones. Throughout the entire 38 minute album, the guitars sound sharp, the beats crisp, the bass subtle but guiding and the singing passionate and sincere. The group also has a lot of unpacked nostalgia, especially on “VCR.” The song starts with an innocent sounding keyboard line, before leading into a wistful and yearning look back at things gone by. While not trying to sound like a curmudgeon or someone who can’t peel away from the past, xx is an album that really is a compelling piece of work when taken all at once. Highlights are all over the record, from the sexy but damaged “Islands” to the dreamy and funky “Crystallized” back to the slinky R&B of “Basic Space.” The band merges between dreamy pop and more hip hop and R&B based sounds on the record, but the record still has a high amount of cohesiveness to it. Sims serves as a good vocal foil to the darkly sensual vocals of Croft, who seems to have the words drip off her lips. There are moments, such as on the not so sly come-on “Shelter” where she gets right to the point. After singing about finding shelter under the covers, she asks “Can I make it better, with the lights turned off?”

With xx, the young band does an excellent job of creating something that is not easily classifiable and cannot be traced back to a certain sound or artist. Using a context that could have easily lead to a much more bland output, the band found ways to make an album that has what seems like unlimited repeat value. While all four members deserve attention for the majority of the record, both Croft and Sims earned extra praise for their sultry, engaging vocals, whether singing alone or together. xx is one of my favorite discoveries of the year and offers a rare occasion where a band comes out of the gate with a disc that is not only enjoyable, but doesn’t sound like a pastiche of other bands. The confidence and originality of this disc, coupled with the sheer sexiness of the songs, should make this a disc you will be hearing a lot more about in the future.