To make a four year hiatus proved to be a smart move for London trio. There was enough time for contemplation about the next step and the change in direction. When you are working in strict frames of the genre (minimal indie-electro-pop), it is not easy to come up with continuous high quality albums. Aware of this fact, Romey Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith let their audience to miss them and then returned with their most exuberant album yet. Of course, this doesn’t mean they are not still into their characteristic melancholy.
The background sounds that Jamie XX incorporates into songs share the main role with elegant vocals of Romey and Oliver, while the trademark metal sound of guitar that could have been heard in almost every song on their earlier releases is almost extinct here. It shows only in Performance, a great track with schizo-violin segment.
The album I See You is a home of many shine moments, such as dreamy Replica and magnificently arranged, backvocals-backedup Lips. And what about the intricately constructed Brave For You? Oh, what an impressive beat in the second half of the song, with a great guitar melody. Love it!
What is absolutely absurd is that the two weakest moments of the record are the album’s promotional singles – Say Something Loving and On Hold, a typical, predictable little tracks you will run into whichever radio station you play. This is far from saying that The xx do not have the right to reach the bigger audience, but to let the mediocre material present your whole album is not something that true fans of the band will appreciate.
Still, when you hear Test Me, the epic closing track, you will forget about that the two mentioned singles ever happened.
In conclusion, the third full-length album by The xx is not without a sin. But, it has a certain assertiveness and freshness in its turn towards upbeat. Overall, the band holds on to what is the most important thing – a high artistic standard.
