xx

Every artist seems to have a minimalist song or two. The xx managed to make a career out of it, and they do it well. Their latest album, aptly titled “XX”, is their latest venture in their genre of mellow, easy-listening music, and to put it lightly, it doesn’t disappoint. The first track, Intro, is a haunting instrumental piece that eases you into the mood of the album, and although it doesn’t bring anything overly impressive to the table, it serves to warm up the listener, preparing them for some of the more remarkable songs to come.

The next two songs, VCR and Crystalised are when the album truly kicks in to gear, providing the songs that you’ll be humming in your head for the few weeks after you buy the album (well I did anyway). Of the two, Crystalised seems the stronger offering, giving a perfect blend of catchy lyrics and memorable guitar riffs, and though VCR seems somewhat more rigid, it still shows the talent that the group has.

Leading straight on from these is the tour de force of the album, Islands. This one song contains all of the merits of the previous two songs, with a strong, attractive beat coupled with a similarly catchy bass line. Add to this equation the lyrics, which combine perfectly with the melody of the song to produce one of, if not the best song of the past year.

The rest of the songs follow suit, Heart skipped a beat, Shelter and Basic space being the most notable, all continuing the mellow tone of the album, though they seem considerably less lively than the early tunes of the album.

Unfortunately, track 6 of the album, Fantasy breaks the pace of the album considerably. Perhaps the artists were trying something new, but whatever it was didn’t work. It takes minimalist to new realms, but the Broken beat combined with the off-tune instrumentals seems much less like drifting to sleep like the rest of the album and much more like an LSD trip.

Besides this one hiccup, the album as a whole is a distinct, profound listen and well worth the time of anybody who enjoys an alternative quality to their music.