Tuesday 17 July 2012

The XX - Angels


The XX's minimalist music has always been an acquired taste and with Angels, the first single to be taken from forthcoming album 'Coexist', nothing has changed.  This is hardly the "club music" inspired material Jamie XX previously hinted at.  Romy Madley-Croft's vocal is, as ever, the centre of attention repeating "they would be as in love with you as I am" with touching insistence.  Cold, echoing guitar oscillations and simplistic bass patterns provide a constant, whilst the patter of drums and cymbals fade gently in and out.  The production is as bare and empty as ever - for some, the unspoken words and unvoiced emotions provide moments of poignancy and stilled, haunting ambience; for others, the void denotes a lack of creative material.

3/5

Listen: Angels is available now, whilst 'Coexist' is released on September 10th.