Disco-Tinged Bittersweetness

In The Key of Awesome's 2010 parody of Lady Gaga's "Telephone", there's a line that resonates powerfully in the smartphone and social media era we are currently living in: "Besides I'm getting sick of all these songs about phones". If you are doubting the ubiquity of the telephone as a lyrical trope in pop music (perhaps you've forgotten about the recent massive success of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe", Adele's "Hello" and Drake's "Hotlline Bling"), Vulture's list of 30 best pop songs about 'telephone drama' provides sufficient evidence to change your mind.

Despite the tiredness of using the telephone as a modern signifier of human communication and connection, English indie pop trio The xx provide a compelling listen with "On Hold", a sampling single from their upcoming album I See You (2017):

'I don't blame youWe got carried awayI can't hold onTo an empty spaceNow you've found a new star to orbitIt could be loveI think you're too soon to call us oldWhen and where did we go cold?I thought I had you on holdAnd every time I let you leaveI always saw you coming back to meWhen and where did we go cold?I thought I had you on hold'

Lyrics: Genius

The lyrics equate being put 'on hold' to be left hanging during the course of a romantic relationship, unsure of whether to keep waiting for a reconnection or to simply hang up and look elsewhere. Aided by the language of astrology and astronomy, vocalists/guitarists Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim trade off poignant and poetic verses with each other, while the effervescent, dance-inducing production audiences have come to expect from producer Jamie xx livens up the post-chorus with aid from an extended vocal hook sampled from Daryll Hall & Oates' 1981 hit "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)".

If this is what being left in telephone limbo sounds like, most people would take a long time to hang up. “On Hold” may be about emotional carelessness and neglect, but these are qualities that are nowhere to be found in The xx's relationship to their music.