The xx success ‘Crystalized’

It’s rare for artists to respond to a monumental first album with a second album that carries just as much weight and depth as the first. That’s why The xx is no ordinary band.

Releasing their self-titled debut in 2009, the ghostly lyrics and minimalist rhythms filled a void that we, as listeners, did not know was there. With tracks like “Crystalised,” the pop quartet (now a trio) pushed itself onto the frontier of the techno minimalist movement alongside artists like James Blake. Made up of Romy Madley-Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith (aka Jamie xx), the band’s chemistry and thick sound comes from their years of growing up together at the Elliot School in London. With Jamie xx’s powerful yet removed beat-play, the lyrics shared by Sim and Madley-Croft pop straight out of their souls.

The lyrics become almost like a story from every teenager’s bottle of emotions with lines such as “I can’t let it out, I still let you in” in “Heart Skipped a Beat” or “I’m setting us in stone / piece by piece, before I’m alone” in “Basic Space.” The lyrics truly become the instrument of choice for the trio, as emphasized by Sim’s thick, but melodic bassline, Madley-Croft’s tasteful exposition of guitar skills and Smith’s shy synthesized background sound. The whole world knew that a second album would have a hard time matching the reverence held by their first album, and yet the whole world waited with high hopes.

Coexist, released on Sept. 10 in the U.K. and Sept. 11 in the U.S. by Young Turks, marks a coming of age for the young band. Having left home to tour the world at 17, there is a clear and obvious difference between the band we heard in their debut and the band we hear in their sophomore album. It’s a big choice for bands with such great success so early in their career to decide whether to carry on with the same sound or to experiment and explore. The xx, to the excitement of millions of listeners, decided to stay true to the sound that is now associated with them.

Amazingly, The xx managed to strip away even more from what we thought was already a stripped away sound. Jamie xx, after producing a full length album with Gil Scott-Heron and releasing an angelic single, has removed his sounds so much so that it sounds as if they were recorded on accident, like echoes from a far off place. Meanwhile, Madley-Croft and Sim have matured from their teenage eulogies into powerful literary forces. All the while they maintain the natural sound as their voices glide in and out on nearly every track. By the dark sensations emitted by the tracks, it is easy to imagine the windowless room of a London apartment where the album was recorded, a room that Sim jokingly described as a “dungeon.” Tracks like “Angels” and “Chained,” the designated lead singles of the album, set the tone for the album with wispy instrumentals, melodic lyrics and a simple yet powerful beat. The entire album seems to constantly progress as if at the end there should be some sort of explosion, but there’s only anticipation. That is typical of The xx, the Band in Black; they always leave you begging for more.