For the past few days I have been unable to pull myself away from The xx’s debut album, ‘XX’, which was released last week via Rough Trade Records. The youthful London based quartet mixes soft, conversational like vocals, with down-tempo melodies, and the result is completely mood altering. The xx works mainly with a traditional set-up (drums, bass, guitar, keys, sampler), yet their music is rather refreshing and creative…they must have found an indie-pop loophole.
While some might view the gender switching vocal roles as an opportunity for The xx to add some diversity to their minimalistic sound, for me it seems very natural, almost like an intimate dialogue between Romy and Oliver.
“XX” works as a whole, so instead of pointing out specific tracks to elaborate on, I recommend listening to the entire album. Maybe the track below will help entice you to explore The xx a bit further.
Take A Listen: Islands from The xx
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Download: Islands (Right click on link and select “Save Target As” in IE or “Save Link As” in Firefox)
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