For years, during my teens, I was on a quest. A quest to find my "favorite band." Now that isn't to say that I never had a favorite band or musician. I loved (and still love) Adele, Florence and the Machine, and Of Monsters and Men. I secretly admired Lady Gaga and Ke$ha. But when I was in high school, hipsters were becoming a thing and I wanted to find an indie band that just radiated coolness and was really artsy and not mainstream.
A band that had a unique sound to them.
One of my best friends in high school was also kinda an indie music snob (love ya Eddie), and well, I felt my tastes were too "basic" in comparison with his. So, while I constantly blasted and enjoyed (and still do) all the aforementioned bands, there was something about them that didn't fit the bill. Alas, when I was 16, after years of listening to Pandora and going through multiple band phases, I hear "Infinity" by The xx come on my Pandora station. I wasn't super impressed by the song, initially, but something told me to keep listening to it… few minutes in, I felt like I had potentially discovered what I was looking for.
Of course today, I can say that the xx ended up becoming my favorite high school band, and still one of my favorites to this day. I listened to "Infinity," and really liked it, and although I wasn't super into the rest of their music at first, I eventually really started liking their other songs as well. It got to the point where I was flat-out addicted. For like a year they were all I ever listened to. I don't blame myself. They're a great band and especially in their first album, they developed a fresh and distinct sound.
The British trio consists of vocalists/guitarist Romy Madely Croft, vocalist/bassist Oliver Sim, and percussionist/ keyboardist Jamie Smith (aka. Jamie xx). There was initially a 4th member of band Baria Qureshi, however, she was fired from the band early on.
Anyway, the album begins with the well-loved indie pop anthem of "Intro." This short song begins with Croft plucking away at the strings of her guitar, giving us a taste of her icy and minimalistic style of guitar playing, which will follow throughout the rest of the album. Near the end of the short song, both band members start singing "ahhha" and near the end has a cute little "ahhha" conversation.
After "Intro," you hear a xylophone start to play, commencing the start of "VCR." This feel-good warm-hearted indie love song is fairly different from its style in comparison with the other songs but still manages to capture that youthful vibe of uncertainty the entire album seems to radiate. "We watch things on VCR," Croft sings, she is later joined by bandmate Oliver Sim, and they sing together, as is per their style. But there is something a bit different about how they share the role of singer. In most duets, there's a sort of cheesy singing to each other kind of phenomenon, but it's different for The xx.
Both Sim and Croft are gay, and the way they sing about love doesn't feel like it is towards each other. In fact, it has been described "singing past each other," creating a sort of vocal distance. In "Crystalized," both Croft and Sim sing about separate experiences. Initially, when first listening to the song, one can get the impression that they are singing about each other, but after becoming more acquainted with them, you can appreciate how both Sim and Croft are singing about two separate but similar experiences.
The song acts to create a conversation between the two singers, a conversation in which they contrast each other's experiences, which is a unique take on the classic duet. This unique "singing past each other" type of duet, can be found throughout the rest of the album and, in most of their songs in general, is part of their signature sound.
On the other hand songs "Night Time" and "Islands" are primarily lead by Croft, with Sim joining in near the end as essentially a backup vocalist. Croft's voice is very sweet, smooth, delicate and silky in a way that's comforting and feels very indie. She does a marvelous job of taking the lead role in the aforementioned songs as well as in "Shelter" (which is just sung by her). Her singing in "Shelter" combined with the guitar and base creates a kind of light feel-good yet melancholy indie rock that seems to go hand in hand with "VCR."
In "Shelter" Croft asserts her presence and lead role through the kind of soft shyness of her nature and timbre. Sim, on the other hand, has a much deeper and rich voice that feels strongly influenced by jazz and R&B. His voice acts as the sole vocals for "Fantasy," in which his voice hauntingly reverberates against a deep and hollow synthetic sound being produced by Smith.
"Fantasy" is probably one of the more unique songs on the album as it is short, and like "Intro" doesn't feel like a full song. But "Fantasy" showcases the most haunting traits of the xx's sound. By the end of the song, Sim's voice is gone and the plucks of Crofts guitar become the main event. "Fantasy" strongly demonstrate the haunting, melancholy, and minimalistic sound of the xx.
The xx have a unique reverberated sound which is very bear and minimalist. Contrasted against the two lead voices, a sort of distant, melancholy, and almost haunting, yet the sensual musical style is created. "Basic Space" is probably the most bizarre of the songs on the albums. It is much more upbeat and happy sounding and its background music consists of a kind of cheesy 1980s Esq synth sound. Yet the strong reverb and barebone instrument use works to give even that song, a distant, haunting, and sensual vibe.
In general, "xx" by The xx is an amazing album. It's angst-filled sensual melancholiness perfectly relates to the sort of coming of age emotions of teens and young adults (which makes sense, as the album was released when the bandmates were 18). The sound that was introduced on xx has this strange air of classiness, as is especially seen in "Infinity" (which has been compared to Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game") Yet, the way Sim and Croft converse and contrast with the vocals, the way Croft plucks her guitar, the way Smith produces the light danceable beats and electronic sounds, and the way the reverb is used, all work to create that unique minimalistic distance, that has never really been heard before.
Today, "xx" is already a 10-year-old album, having been released in 2008. Yet the distinct air and quality of the sound and vibes of the album are timeless. "xx" is a great album. To this day the album continues to be one of my favorites, and I highly recommend that anyone, especially someone in their teens and 20s, take the time to really give it a listen and to appreciate the elements of the album that give it it's one of a kind sound.
