Albums by The xx
ALBUMI See YouThe xx
ALBUMCoexist (Deluxe Edition)The xx
ALBUMxx (Bonus Track Version)The xx
The xx's Popular Music Videos
Islands
The xx
On Hold
The xx
On Hold (Jamie xx Remix)
The xx
Chained
The xx
Say Something Loving
The xx
I Dare You
The xx
Angels (Live in Tokyo)
The xx
Basic Space
The xx
Say Something Loving (Live from RAK Studios)
The xx
Beats 1 Zane Lowe & the xx
The xx
Artist Playlists
The xx Essentials
We swoon for the soulful jams of this British trio.
Inspired by The xx
Indie romance stripped down to its purest, starkest form.
The xx: Influences
Indie stars build a clear identity on disparate influences.
The xx: Chill
Lean back and relax with some of their mellowest cuts.
Artist Biography
When The xx unveiled their breathy bedroom ballads in 2009, they sounded like no one else. Their silky blend of sultry trip-hop, wistful dream-pop, and bass-driven dubstep stimulates in its restraint. “We weren’t overthinking it,” vocalist/guitarist Romy Madley Croft told Apple Music. “People were like, ‘Why is it so simple, and so minimal?’ They thought that maybe we were going for a really minimalist aesthetic, but we just wanted it to be exactly what was playable live.” The group—comprising schoolmates Romy Madley Croft, vocalist/bassist Oliver Sim, guitarist/keyboardist Baria Qureshi, and producer Jamie Smith (aka Jamie xx)—were just out of high school and still learning their instruments, after all. That simplistic approach ended up shaping The xx’s 2009 self-titled debut album—which earned them the coveted Mercury Prize—and their entire sound since. Trimming down to a trio (Qureshi left in late 2009), the band have kept that understated appeal. Madley Croft and Sim’s hushed harmonies still sound like lovers sharing their deepest apprehensions on wispy melodies like “Angels,” as Jamie xx’s ever-evolving beats have inched them closer to the dance floor with hypnotic singles, “On Hold” and “I Dare You.” Meanwhile, the group’s airy, atmospheric ambiance has seeped into indie, pop, and hip-hop, and even seduced the biggest stars on the planet, including Rihanna (who sampled “Intro”) and Drake (who would later re-envision Jamie xx’s Gil Scott-Heron remix of “I’ll Take Care of U”). Still, no one can replicate what The xx do best—stripping down intimacy to its absolute essentials: whispered sweet nothings, heart-throbbing beats, and echoes of all the ineffable spaces in between.
Hometown
Wandsworth, London, England
Genre
Alternative