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Album Review

The XX
XX Young Turks

Article written by Ged M - Sep 18, 2009

The XX

A listen to the tracks on the bonus CD (if you buy this from Rough Trade) give a good clue to what influences the XX: cover versions of songs by Kyla, Aaliyah and Womack & Womack. Though there are hushed echoes of the Cure and Young Marble Giants on the album, The XX - who came together at Elliott School in Putney (alma mater of Kieren Hebden, Hot Chip, Adem and others) - have their roots in r'n'b and dubstep much more than indie rock. But while it’s utterly contemporary, it’s the opposite of throwaway. The spare songs with their minimal instrumentation and dark tones are completely compelling, as is the vocal interplay of Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim. Their music is shadowy, delicate and whispery and deliberately underplayed, as on the single ‘Basic Space‘ where guitars and keyboards step forward then melt away, rather than layer up, and they never crowd the vocals; the voices sound sometimes fragile but more often sensuous, creating the faintly melancholic love-pop of ‘Heart Skipped A Beat’ or the more assertive ‘VCR’. Finding a niche for them is almost impossible, since this album is unlike any of their pop contemporaries, but the scary confidence (so sure-footed for four 19 year olds) and pared down sounds are sure to haunt you for some time.

Links:
http://www.theyoungturks.co.uk/records_news/introducing-the-xx
http://www.myspace.com/thexx