Album: xx
Artist: The xx
Born: Wandsworth, London
Released: August 2009
Genre: Dream Pop
Though The xx downplayed any connection, it's impossible to ignore the Elliott School link between some of London's best musicians in the noughties (Hot Chip, Burial, The xx). I think it says more about the music industry's obsession for a "scene" (the Brit School in south London is another example), but there's no doubt there was something in the creative air at that school. All three artists are very different, with Hot Chip and Burial inspired by dance music and The xx most deeply influenced by the gothic post-punk of The Cure and Siouxsie & The Banshees. Both those 80s groups married a dark, moody aesthetic with a strong pop ethos, and The xx's originality is updating that for a modern audience. Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sims, the core duo at the heart of the band, started the The xx at school and were later joined by Baria Qureshi and producer Jamie Smith, whose beats and love of Timbaland-style R&B gave this album it's modern feel. Though both Croft and Sims are not conventionally strong singers, their male-female harmonies work brilliantly on tracks like Crystalised, where Smith's spare, minimal production provides the space for their voices.
Crystalised is one of the few songs that has a conventional pop structure, complete with chorus, while its spiky guitars are reminiscent of post-punk. What this album really provides though, above any real standout songs, is a distinctly dreamy mood and a strong spirit of teenage yearning. In that sense, it's as timeless as pop music itself. Like Crystalised, Basic Space also sees Croft and Sims weaving their vocals to hypnotising effect, as they explore the changing dynamics of a relationship, "I think I'm losing where you end and I begin". The hushed intensity reminds me a lot of David Sylvian and Japan. Other highlights are the simple xylophone melody of VCR and the R&B handclaps of Heart Skipped A Beat. Sims' bass playing is impressive throughout, especially on Islands, which like many songs is minimal in approach and without the slightest sense of a surplus note. What impresses me is how they draw on some of the best 80s British music, like the sad guitar sound of The Cocteau Twins on Shelter, but give it a modern twist with R&B beats and production. Truly innovative.
Though The xx downplayed any connection, it's impossible to ignore the Elliott School link between some of London's best musicians in the noughties (Hot Chip, Burial, The xx). I think it says more about the music industry's obsession for a "scene" (the Brit School in south London is another example), but there's no doubt there was something in the creative air at that school. All three artists are very different, with Hot Chip and Burial inspired by dance music and The xx most deeply influenced by the gothic post-punk of The Cure and Siouxsie & The Banshees. Both those 80s groups married a dark, moody aesthetic with a strong pop ethos, and The xx's originality is updating that for a modern audience. Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sims, the core duo at the heart of the band, started the The xx at school and were later joined by Baria Qureshi and producer Jamie Smith, whose beats and love of Timbaland-style R&B gave this album it's modern feel. Though both Croft and Sims are not conventionally strong singers, their male-female harmonies work brilliantly on tracks like Crystalised, where Smith's spare, minimal production provides the space for their voices.
Crystalised is one of the few songs that has a conventional pop structure, complete with chorus, while its spiky guitars are reminiscent of post-punk. What this album really provides though, above any real standout songs, is a distinctly dreamy mood and a strong spirit of teenage yearning. In that sense, it's as timeless as pop music itself. Like Crystalised, Basic Space also sees Croft and Sims weaving their vocals to hypnotising effect, as they explore the changing dynamics of a relationship, "I think I'm losing where you end and I begin". The hushed intensity reminds me a lot of David Sylvian and Japan. Other highlights are the simple xylophone melody of VCR and the R&B handclaps of Heart Skipped A Beat. Sims' bass playing is impressive throughout, especially on Islands, which like many songs is minimal in approach and without the slightest sense of a surplus note. What impresses me is how they draw on some of the best 80s British music, like the sad guitar sound of The Cocteau Twins on Shelter, but give it a modern twist with R&B beats and production. Truly innovative.
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