About the third album:
The challenge for the new album was how a band with growing clout, influence and experience could still conjure private emotions.
The band came from such an unambitious place, Mr. Sim said. But its slowly become something where we do have a lot of drive
we do have a lot of ambition now.
The bands solution was both clear and complicated: Work on the sounds, unblock the feelings and abandon self-imposed rules.
I See You inevitably scales up the sound of the xx, openly courting a wider audience, but its songs still ring true.
When the band started, the xx imposed its own strictures. To stay personal, Ms. Madley Croft and Mr. Sim would each sing only
lyrics they had written themselves. They also avoided, as they still do, specifics like place names or gendered pronouns using
you and I, not he and she so you can fit it into your own life and imagine yourself within it, Ms. Madley Croft said. And even
on a recording, an xx song could only have the parts that could be played onstage. We never set out to be a minimal band, she
said. We just couldnt play our instruments very well.
But with I See You, the xx upended its old methods. They recorded outside the familiarity of London (though they eventually
returned there) in Marfa, Los Angeles and Reykjavik, Iceland places with sunshine and wide-open landscapes.
The songs on I See You no longer insist on the austere minimalism of the bands first two albums. The sonic palette has vastly
expanded; there are a few solid dance beats, some plush echoes of the Beach Boys, some resonant and ghostly synthesizer tones,
even a sample of Hall & Oates in On Hold. The frailty and tension of the xxs past catalog remain; Here come my insecurities,
Ms. Madley Croft sings in Say Something Loving, which is far from the albums only song to mention fear. But there are also new
glimmers of confidence.
At times, Mr. Sim said, the new album is celebratory its not all Woe is me. He paused it is, after all, an xx album and
added, dryly, Of course, given what weve done before, my version of celebratory is pretty different from somebody elses.
The challenge for the new album was how a band with growing clout, influence and experience could still conjure private emotions.
The band came from such an unambitious place, Mr. Sim said. But its slowly become something where we do have a lot of drive
we do have a lot of ambition now.
The bands solution was both clear and complicated: Work on the sounds, unblock the feelings and abandon self-imposed rules.
I See You inevitably scales up the sound of the xx, openly courting a wider audience, but its songs still ring true.
When the band started, the xx imposed its own strictures. To stay personal, Ms. Madley Croft and Mr. Sim would each sing only
lyrics they had written themselves. They also avoided, as they still do, specifics like place names or gendered pronouns using
you and I, not he and she so you can fit it into your own life and imagine yourself within it, Ms. Madley Croft said. And even
on a recording, an xx song could only have the parts that could be played onstage. We never set out to be a minimal band, she
said. We just couldnt play our instruments very well.
But with I See You, the xx upended its old methods. They recorded outside the familiarity of London (though they eventually
returned there) in Marfa, Los Angeles and Reykjavik, Iceland places with sunshine and wide-open landscapes.
The songs on I See You no longer insist on the austere minimalism of the bands first two albums. The sonic palette has vastly
expanded; there are a few solid dance beats, some plush echoes of the Beach Boys, some resonant and ghostly synthesizer tones,
even a sample of Hall & Oates in On Hold. The frailty and tension of the xxs past catalog remain; Here come my insecurities,
Ms. Madley Croft sings in Say Something Loving, which is far from the albums only song to mention fear. But there are also new
glimmers of confidence.
At times, Mr. Sim said, the new album is celebratory its not all Woe is me. He paused it is, after all, an xx album and
added, dryly, Of course, given what weve done before, my version of celebratory is pretty different from somebody elses.
- The xx Lets the Sunshine In, New York Times (Dec. 2016)
Tracklisting:
- Dangerous (4:10)
- Say Something Loving (3:58)
- Lips (3:20)
- A Violent Noise (3:47)
- Performance (4:06)
- Replica (4:09)
- Brave for You (4:13)
- On Hold (3:44) - Official Video.
- I Dare You (3:53)
- Test Me (3:55)
Total length: 39:15
- Naive
- Season Run
- Brave for You (Marfa demo)
Reviews:
Metacritic: 84
≡ Independent:
The xx have maintained that element of mystique which is so vital for their music. They are exciting precisely because they
refuse to reveal everything about themselves, and because there is an ambiguity to be found in lyrics that come across as
bluntly personal. Its a talent that was present in their first two albums, only this time, theyve let the light in a bit.
≡ The Observer:
I See You [reveals] a more mature sound, one where the songwriting is top-notch and the intertwining vocals are more polished
and mesmerizing than ever.
≡ NME:
They find a balance with the old xx though. Fragility and self-doubt are still themes.
Check back for more reviews when the album releases this week.
Metacritic: 84
≡ Independent:
The xx have maintained that element of mystique which is so vital for their music. They are exciting precisely because they
refuse to reveal everything about themselves, and because there is an ambiguity to be found in lyrics that come across as
bluntly personal. Its a talent that was present in their first two albums, only this time, theyve let the light in a bit.
≡ The Observer:
I See You [reveals] a more mature sound, one where the songwriting is top-notch and the intertwining vocals are more polished
and mesmerizing than ever.
≡ NME:
They find a balance with the old xx though. Fragility and self-doubt are still themes.
Check back for more reviews when the album releases this week.
