"“Our comfort zone is a very small place.”
Romy Madley Croft,
While fans might appreciate consistency from their favourite artists, music critics generally reserve praise for artists who demonstrate growth and maturity from album to album. It's no surprise, then, that London indie electronic trio and childhood friends The xx are earning praise for pushing their musical boundaries in their latest and third album I See You (2017). As their lead single "On Hold" and follow up "Say Something Loving" demonstrate, the socially anxious trio - who are always dressed in attention-deflecting suburban goth attire - have gained more confidence and boldness, even if their subject matter revolves around personal vulnerability, self-doubt, hesitant intimacy and introspection:
"I See You is a bold, rhythmic revamp. It’s their first album to use prominent samples, which Smith considers his voice. Opener “Dangerous” starts with a striking brass fanfare that immediately raises the stakes. (The first time I hit play, I thought I was listening to the wrong record.) Madley Croft and Sim now write together in a room as opposed to via email, and talk openly about their songs. As a result, they’re no longer singing past each other, but singing out, like ’80s dancefloor belters. In the past, their lyrics were always inside their heads, wishing, observing, never doing; on I See You, they dare and scream and test."
Laura Snapes, Pitchfork
As with "On Hold", the use of strategic song sampling, a lush and bold production and direct lyricism creates a song that serves as a dialogue that takes place in the open and not as an internal monologue in Sim or Madley-Croft's head, even as their trademark level of naked honesty remains intact:
'[Chorus 2: Oliver Sim & Romy Madley Croft]You say something lovingIt's so overwhelming, the thrill of affectionFeels so unfamiliarYou say something lovingWithout hesitation it hits me, hits meIt feels so unfamiliar[Post-Chorus: Alessi Brothers]Before it slips away[Verse 3: Romy Madley Croft]Your touch stays on my skinI feel it start sinking inHere come my insecuritiesI almost expect you to leave[Verse 4: Oliver Sim]Were you really looking for me?Try your best to reassure meI wasn't patient to meet youAm I too needy, am I too eager?'
Lyrics: Genius
As Snapes' extensive feature on The xx revealed, this step forward was hard won. In the years since their second album Coexist (2012), Sim had to overcome his alcholism, Madley Croft grieved over the loss of her father and pushed herself to participate in the LA pop songwriting scene with Ryan Tedder and and Robin Hannibal, while Jamie Smith aka Jamie xx struct out on his own with his debut album In Colour(2015), which led to an international tour that separated him from his bandmates.
While Smith's production skills has evolved alongside Madley Croft and Sim's aptitudes as vocalists and lyricists, I am interested to see them broaden their subject matter - and perhaps layer their deeply personal lyrics with a more consciously political engagement with the external world. Snaped has observed that "Co-leads Oliver Sim and Madley Croft are both gay, and there’s an argument to be made for the xx providing a rare portrait of queer intimacy, though they prefer to see it as universal". Whether they embrace a political stance based on their queer identities or not, I am interested in the idea of The xx becoming a game-changer on a sonic, emotional and ideological level.
