The XX

Tags: indie, dj, punk, electronica, dance

The xx exist in a time and space of their own making. In 2009 the south London trio’s debut album ‘xx’, quietly made at night over the course of two years, bled steadily into the public consciousness to become shorthand for newly refined ideas of teenage desire and anxiety. Articulated with a maturity beyond their years, its hallmarks were restraint and ambiguity. In the age of the over-share, ‘xx’ was pop with its privacy settings on max.

Three years on, Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith are back with a new album, ‘Coexist’, and a new perspective. Where ‘xx’ lent in close to whisper in your ear, ‘Coexist’ gazes warmly in your eyes. Much has happened to lead to this point: most pertinently, they’ve grown up.

Following the release of ‘xx’, the trio spent the lion’s share of 2010 far from home, taking their gentle shaping of a new London sound to ears and hearts in America, Japan, Australia and mainland Europe. Critical acclaim was matched by commercial success around the world, before The xx won the UK’s prestigious Mercury Music Prize. With all the successes and new experiences of that intense year and a half, a period away from the stage and studio was inevitable. In late October 2010 The xx returned from tour for some time apart, and normality.

“All of our friends had been to university and left home,” says Romy. “We really wanted to do that natural thing that you do when you go to uni or grow up.” All three moved out of their family homes within two weeks of being back. They made up for lost time with friends, hung out and embraced a summer of festivals and shows that Jamie was booked to DJ. “We were his groupies,” laughs Romy.

Previously cast as the quietest of the three, Jamie became the public face of The xx in 2011. In-between DJ gigs, he focused on growing his production skills, developing a distinct sound and presence. His remix of Adele’s Rolling In The Deep, re-imagining of Gil Scott-Heron’s final album on ‘We’re New Here’ with its defining single I’ll Take Care Of U, and his debut solo single Far Nearer set him apart as a highly regarded producer in his own right. That position was cemented when Drake asked Jamie to produce the title track of his album ‘Take Care’, inspired by I’ll Take Care Of U.

Behind the scenes, there was evolution too. Romy and Oliver’s writing process on ‘xx’ had been to exchange lyrics over the internet and only sing what they each had written. Having begun to write again quite soon after returning from tour – “Much sooner than I expected,” says Romy – they discovered that their initial reticence to bare so much of themselves in person had faded.

“The newest thing that we’ve done on this record is that me and Romy wrote in a room together,” explains Oliver. “We went into a room with nothing and talked through early ideas together, which was fun but bizarre because we’ve never done that before. I also sang one of Romy’s lyrics for the first time, which felt really nice.”

Where dreams and expectation had largely coloured Oliver’s lyrics on ‘xx’, on ‘Coexist’ he draws on his own experiences: “Which I’m surprised I’ve done because I knew people were going to hear them; I’m surprised I was able to put it out there confidently.” Conversely, Romy wrote quite openly from experience on their debut: “It felt very much like a direct diary – although obviously we’ve always written quite cryptically. I think my lyrics have become more from observation and expectation, which is a complete swap.”

That realignment extends to Jamie’s role. When he originally joined the band they’d been writing and gigging for a year. This time around it was the three of them working together from the start. Following a short spell in a Dalston practice room, Jamie found a space in Angel that would become their studio. Essentially a couple of rooms in an ordinary office block, they turned the once mundane space into a nocturnal hub of creativity among the nine-to-five surroundings, hanging black velvet on the walls as soundproofing and fitting it out with a set-up that now included piano, drums and steel pan. Back together again, separate from both their label in west London and east London’s music scene, Romy, Oliver and Jamie wrote ‘Coexist’.

“We just ended up playing new stuff to each other to try and write which was a fun way to do it,” explains Jamie. It wasn’t always plain sailing: “The idea I had at the beginning when we started wasn’t the right idea because I’d been in a place where I was making music for Drake and other people, and myself, and I’d kind of forgotten about working with these two, which is very different because we’re so close.” Jamie continues: “Learning to work together as grownups was the biggest thing – it’s the thing that influenced the album the most. We just needed to find a balance.”

Understanding that balance became the heart and soul of ‘Coexist’. “Jamie has done his solo stuff and Oliver and I have done separate things but The xx is only when we’re together. That’s when it’s really us,” explains Romy. “I was reading up on oil on water – when you see a puddle on the floor and it’s a rainbow. Oil and water don’t mix, they agree to peacefully coexist. I really liked that – these two simple things, oil and water, that together make something beautiful.”

“To coexist doesn’t paint the rosiest picture but I think it represents the realness,” continues Romy. “Learning to live together, learning to work together again, learning to live with the person you’re with, or your ex. It’s all connected.” Through that learning process, the anxious night time of ‘xx’ has made way for sunrise on ‘Coexist’.

While the fingerprints of R&B remain, ‘Coexist’s dawn realisations flicker into life under house music’s gaze, most resonant on Reunion, Sunset and Swept Away. It also echoes in Romy’s guitar riffs and Oliver’s bass lines, which circle and build like loops. “That’s something I love about dance music, how something insignificant can somehow become profound after the fifth repetition,” says Oliver.

Above all, though, ‘Coexist’ is an album of confident adult reflection. Angels, sung by Romy, is a perfectly distilled love song. Its counter is Fiction led by Oliver, a bittersweet ballad that’s strength lies in naming its fear. What has changed for The xx? Nothing, and everything. Older and wiser, surer yet still so tender, ‘Coexist’ finds itself on the other side of heartbreak, when the light returns.

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Pretty Much Amazing Best 2012 on The XX

14 days ago

#25 Coexist

Spinner Best of 2012 on The XX

2 months ago

#32 Winning the Mercury Prize for their debut put a lot of pressure on The xx’s sophomore effort...full article here

Treble Best of 2012 on The XX

4 months ago

#17 This album isn’t for everybody. As much as that is a banal platitude, broadly speaking, it’s particularly true here...full article here

TheOwlMag on The XX

4 months ago

The xx Coexist [Young Turks]

The xx’s Romy Madley-Croft, Oliver Sim, and Jamie Smith are back to captivate us again with their hushed soundscape off their sophomore release, Coexist.

The complicated deterioration of love is the central theme that connects each track on Coexist. From the first pangs of realization of a love on its way out on “Angels,” where Madley-Croft lovingly whispers “And everyday, I’m learning about you, the things no one else sees. But the end comes too soon…” Followed closely by the back and forth, opposing views duet of “Chained” with its lovely guitar riffs. “Reunion” is achingly enchanting with its whisper vocals enveloped in steel drums and its driving drum beats. Sims seems to be taking the reins a bit more this time around; he’s been quoted as saying that “club music” was the inspiration for Coexist. It must be some dark underground club where no one really looks you in the eye and everyone sticks to themselves; filled with a sea of bodies in varying states of reserved motion–mirroring the maestro’s of sound before them.

Coexist is so decidedly xx, with its restrained control of vocals, notes, and beats and at first listen, it seems that not much has changed. Even with one less member’s contribution. Yet upon further immersion, one thing is clear, there is a maturity and purity in their sound; a combined confidence in voice, instrument, and production that is hypnotic in its simplicity.

more at theowlmag.com

SPIN Magazine's Best Albums Of 2012 on The XX

6 months ago

#31 Way back in 2009, when "PBR&B" wasn't a word worth cringing over, and it wasn't quite yet cool to declare one's love for say, Rodney Jerkins, the xx's Aaliyah fetish — a bonus-track cover of "Hot Like Fire" on a debut album that mirrored the patient, minimal throb of Timbaland circa 2001 — felt pretty unprecedented. Just three years later, though, coexisting with indie-rock's R&B flirtation, the trio remains ahead ... more here

Amoeba Music on The XX

6 months ago

The xx, Coexist (CD) The XX dig further into their shrouded corner of the universe with Coexist, an album that finds the trio even more assured in producing their minimalist, romantic sound. “Angels” opens the album breathtakingly as Romy Madley Croft’s vocal coaxes intensity with just a few simple refrains. Co-vocalist Oliver Sim pulls a similar trick on the yearning “Missing,” while “Chained” is one of the best examples yet of how Jamie Smith’s production meshes perfectly with Madley Croft and Sim’s simple yet divine vocal interplay and subtle guitarwork, its beats coming in offtime to break the spell at just the right time. Coexist works when its trio supports each other with the just the right...more at amoeba.com

NME Recommended Albums on The XX

6 months ago

The xx - 'Coexist' scored 8 / 10 For those of you who love The xx at their most sad-eyed and romantically dysfunctional, we recommend ignoring the first track on their second album, ‘Coexist’. Wafting in the same rarefied airspace as ‘Stars’ did on their 2009 debut ‘xx’, ‘Angels’ is the boldest Valentine the band have ever recorded. Romy Madley Croft swoons against ethereal guitars, repeating the word “love” like she’s been sucker-punched by the sheer intensity of her heart-shaped feeling. She’s revelling in the joy of it, but also...more at nme.com

Pitchfork Best New Tracks on The XX

7 months ago

The xx: "Angels"

On the surface, the first single from the xx 's forthcoming album, Coexist , sounds very much like an xx song-- a skeletal guitar line, Romy Madley Croft's intimate voice at the front of the track like a pair of lips whispering into someone's ear, and lots of hollow space surrounding to add intimacy. Then, something surprising happens: about a minute in, some uneasy snare rolls ease in... [from Coexist ; 09/10/12 internationally and 09/11/12 in the U.S. via Young Turks ]

more at pitchfork.com

Pitchfork Best New Tracks on The XX

7 months ago

The xx: "Chained"

The best xx songs are defined by their use of space. One of the most interesting uses of open air on the band's self-titled debut was the gulf between Romy Madley-Croft and Oliver Sim's voices. "Chained" takes that duelling effect and uses it to set up an intense pinprick of drama. The two vocalists swoop and duck around each other's verses, almost as..... [from Coexist ; 09/10/12 internationally and 09/11/12 in the U.S. via Young Turks ]

more at pitchfork.com

PASTE's Best of What's Next on The XX

7 months ago

The friends from London's Elliott School formed a band before any of them... more at pastemagazine.com

Buzz Bands LA on The XX

7 months ago

The first single from the U.K. trio The xx's forthcoming sophomore album "Coexist" (due Sept. 11) is "Angels," a typically minimalist number with barely enough heft to silence conversations on a typical night at the Hotel Cafe. But you might like it. ||| Stream: "Angels" ||| Live: The xx play July 23 at the Fonda Theatre (sold), Oct. 12 at the Palladium and Oct. 13 at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. more here

Quit Mumbling on The XX

7 months ago

In some weird way, the universe is trying to reconnect me to The xx. It was only a week ago that Stuart and I were driving and conversation struck up, something along the lines of "Dude, do you remember how good The xx album is?". Random, but our unabashed praise caused me to revisit the debut on not one, but two grossly early flights sometime in between the hours of "lets pull an all-nighter" and "holy shit why can't I fall asleep". When you're stuck on a 4 hour flight with nothing to do but listen to music, you more here

Quit Mumbling on The XX

7 months ago

From the opening seconds of The xx's new track, you know the spiraling guitar comes from the band who managed to carve out a genuinely unique and new sound with their 2009 debut. Their influence since can be found across genres in the musical output from James Blake to Drake, and artists like Rhye certainly made solid runs , but once that bass drum kicks in shortly after the one-minute mark that feels like it's pouring out from inside your body cavity, you remember how long you've been waiting for new music that can only more here

Quit Mumbling on The XX

7 months ago

The xx have released their second track off the much-anticipated follow-up Coexist. Unlike "Angels," which they gave us last month and set the tone for an album of love songs, it's the welcome return of Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft's back-and-forth over " We used to be closer than this/ We used to get closer than this/ Is it something you miss ?" It's numerically the second track on the album, that whets the appetite for intrigue, while bridging the gap between albums, with only hints of the house influence this album is all about. more here

Quit Mumbling on The XX

7 months ago

Let me start off by saying this is reportedly an unfinished version. Okay, now, here is a new xx song. They are a crafty little bunch, that xx—the songs they've released, preceded by " Chained " and " Angels ," have been a deliberate progression, a careful moon landing between their debut to the upcoming Coexist , out here September 11. If the price for digital consumption comes at a cost, it may well be our tendencies for disposable behavior, but human memory is much more stubborn than its digital kind (source/proof: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless more here

Quit Mumbling on The XX

9 months ago

Quit Mumbling on The XX

9 months ago

Quit Mumbling on The XX

9 months ago

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The XX

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