Timid cockney types The xx are gearing up to release their debut album ‘XX’ later this summer.
The xx are a four piece who hark back to the days when indie meant more than the bluff and bluster of groups such as Kasabian. Hardly likely to rock out in a stadium, the band’s intimate live shows have seen audience become entranced.
Their child-like melodies have seen the group compared to the C86 scene, but really they mean far more than that. Recalling 60s pop alongside those indie greats, The XX exist in their own shy little world.
The group caused a stir on the London live scene before being snapped up by hip imprint Young Turks.
The band released their debut single ‘Crystalised’ earlier this year. A perfectly formed slice of twee pop, it is a world away from the over-produced sheen of commercial indie. The XX are set to follow this with their debut album ‘XX’.
Produced by the band’s own Jamie Smith, in a recent interview with the BBC The xx revealed that they used the offices of XL Recordings to lay the album down on tape.
“In the actual offices where people work,” confirmed Romy Croft. “It was like a garage when we first went there, like a mattress on the wall – it was really derelict and then they refurbished it and we were the first band in there.”
“We worked with a lot of producers before but it ended up sounding more like them than us,” adds Jamie Smith. “Eventually just decided to do it myself.”
However the band still retain their love of good pop music, with The xx sprinkling their live shows with covers of Womack and Womack’s ‘Tearsdrops’ and Aaliyah’s ‘Hot Like Fire’.
The xx are due to release their debut album ‘XX’ on August 17th. Full tracklisting is as follows:
‘Intro’
‘VCR’
‘Crystalised’
‘Islands’
‘Heart Skipped A Beat’
‘Fantasy’
‘Shelter’
‘Basic Space’
‘Infinity’
‘Night Time’
‘Stars’
