The xx

2005–2009: Formation

The band formed while studying at Elliott School, the same school attended by Hot Chip, Burial, Four Tet, actor Pierce Brosnan, and Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green. Though Madley Croft and Sim had been friends since the age of 3, meeting at nursery school. Madley Croft downplayed media reports of the school's influence on their careers: "A teacher from Elliott who had never even taught us said how great we were. It's a bit annoying. We were left alone, more than anything — although I'm sure that helped us in its own way." Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft (born 1989) started the band as a duo when they were 15. In 2006, guitarist Baria Qureshi joined once they had begun performing, with Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx, also joining...

Musical style and influences

The xx has been described as various genres, including indie rock, indie pop, indie electronic, R&B, dream pop, and electro-rock, while incorporating elements of post-punk and dance. The band members have cited several artists in their influences. Madley Croft said: "Jamie started out very much into soul and then from there moved into hip-hop and UK-based dance music. He brings some much lower frequencies of bass into the band. And then I've grown up listening to Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the Cure. We're really quite a huge melting pot of different stuff." Sim is a fan of Aaliyah, with the band covering her song "Hot Like Fire".

Intro

"Intro" is the opening song of English indie pop group The xx's debut studio album, xx (2009). It was composed as an instrumental by the group and produced by one of its members, Jamie xx.

The song has been positively received, as well as earning comparisons to the works of Casiokids and Interpol. It has been analysed by The Daily Telegraph to have been a "TV favourite", getting play in several television adverts, events, and shows.

Production

"Intro"'s production was handled by Jamie xx, who was also mixer. The recording and mixing was held between December 2008 and May 2009 at XL Studio, a studio by XL Recordings located in London, England. Rodaidh McDonald engineered the track and was also the mixer. Romy Madley Croft and Baria Qureshi played guitar, the latter being a keyboardist for the song, while Oliver Sim was bassist. Finally, the mastering was done by Nilesh Patel at studio The Exchange in Camden Town.

Composition

"Intro" was composed by Baria Qureshi, Jamie xx, Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft. It is an instrumental with a duration of approximately two minutes and eight seconds, performed in the key of A minor—with a chord progression of F–Am followed throughout the song—and in common time at a tempo of 100 beats per minute. The instrumentation consists of a "fuzzy keyboard, a simple guitar riff, wordless chanting" and "double-tracked drums", according to The A.V. Club's Vadim Rizov; Chase McMullen from Beats Per Minute described the song as "nearly trip hop". It opens with a riff that BBC Music's Lou Thomas compared to "Fot I Hose" by Casiokids, before the beat drops in which he said was "heavy enough for dubstep". PopMatters journalist Ben...

Reception

"Intro" was well received by critics. Bustle journalist Gabrielle Moss called it a "British indie pop gem", and Chase McMullen of Beats per Minute honored the song as "a perfect opening to the greatness that is [xx]". The Observer critic Sarah Boden wrote that "As the languorous swirl of Intro fades in [...] you immediately sense you're listening to something seductively special." Vadim Rizov of The A.V. Club called the arrangement "epic minimalism", while AllMusic's Heather Phares opined it "lovely enough". Commercially, "Intro"'s first appearance on the charts was in 2010, when it hit number 161 on the UK Singles Chart. Between 2012 and 2013, the track reached number 96 in France and number 50 in Spain, as well as earning a new peak on...

Islands

"Islands" is a song recorded by English indie pop band the xx for their self-titled debut studio album. Written by band-members Jamie Smith, Oliver Sim, Romy Madley Croft and then-member Baria Qureshi, "Islands" is a dark and simple indie pop track.

It also contains influences from house music and features instrumentation from guitars and synthesizers. Croft and Sim, who provided vocals in the track, sing about themes related to loyalty and love.

Background and composition

"Islands" was written by the xx band-members Jamie Smith, Oliver Sim, Romy Madley Croft and then-member Baria Qureshi, for the English indie pop band's self-titled debut album (2009). According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, the song is composed in the key of C♯ minor and has a metronome of 124 beats per minute. Sim and Croft provide vocals in the track, and their range spans from G#3 to E4. Similar to the band's usual style of production, "Islands" is dark and "nocturnal" in nature and follows a "simple, effective" beat. It features instrumentation from guitars which "twirl like dance floor partners in the background" and synthesisers that "play like a musical shadow". According to BBC...

Critical reception

"Islands" was critically well received. It was called a "top-notch indie pop song" by BBC Music. Lou Thomas, a critic for the website, said there is a "sense of quiet triumph" in what he felt was a musical reference to "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty in the song's melody, "despite the incongruity". The Muso's Guide review of "Islands" approved of the song's release as a single and complimented Croft and Sim's vocal delivery, saying they "provide a superb introduction to what the band is all about". They particularly appreciated its "I am yours now" refrain, naming it "a typically heartfelt and bed-cuddly line that makes The xx the perfect alternative lovers band". Emily Mackay from NME called the song "gorgeous" and felt it was "the...

Reception

The video received positive reviews from critics. Katie Hasty from HitFix praised the choreography, calling it "eye-popping", and labelled the video as "classy, contained, and borderline claustrophobic". She complimented Farahmand for directing a risky concept and commented that the tracking shots were like "an inhale and exhale with each new take". Furthermore, she felt that the video was representative of the xx's sound, calling it "morose and hypnotic, just like the band, the aural equivalent of a mumblecore movie", and opined that the end of the video showed how "love goes". Chris Ryan from MTV also found the video similar to the band's musical style, and commented that the slight changes in its pattern "suggest unrest under the...

Shakira cover

Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira recorded a cover version of "Islands" for inclusion in her ninth studio album Sale el Sol, which was released on October 19, 2010. Although there was initial speculation that the cover would be entitled "Explore", it appeared on the final track list of the album using its original name. In comparison to the original version, Shakira's cover of "Islands" follows a largely similar and "fairly faithful" instrumentation, but features a faster tempo, "hopeful-sounding" vocals, and "pseudo-house" elements. Prior to Shakira recording the cover of "Islands", Croft had briefly met her at the London BBC Studios; the former talked about her meeting, saying "We were sitting on a wall outside the BBC and she came up...

Crystalised

"Crystalised" is the debut single by English indie pop band the xx. It was released on 27 April 2009 as the first single from their 2009 self-titled debut album.

Music and lyrics

According to Robert Christgau, "Crystalised" uses a musical structure similar to "VCR", "hooky ostinato riff embellished with a few subtle effects, leading to a soft vocal. The exaggerated drawl of bassist Oliver Sim precedes the more human-scale croon of guitarist Romy Madley Croft." Croft and Sim shared lead vocals, which Rachel Kowal from NPR said are "delivered in a sexy call and response fashion that is reminiscent of the duets" by Canadian indie pop band Stars on their 2004 album Set Yourself on Fire, "minus all the antagonism associated with ex-lovers."

Release and reception

"Crystalised" was first released in the UK on 27 April 2009 by Vinyl and on 25 November 2009 by Digital download and then again on 11 October 2010. It has been used in numerous advertisements and TV shows and has over 26 million hits on YouTube as of June 2011. It was sampled in the song "Less Than Zero" by K.Flay and covered by Gorillaz whose version was included in the advertisement for Grey's Anatomy in late 2010. In 2013, it was covered and released as a single by Martina Topley-Bird, Mark Lanegan, and Warpaint.

VCR

"VCR" is the fourth single by English indie rock band the xx from their self-titled debut album. The single was first released in the UK on 24 January 2010.

The song was also featured on the episode "Black Friday" from the television series Lie to Me. Music critic Robert Christgau named it the tenth best single of the year.

Cover versions

"VCR" was covered by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Their version was published at SoundCloud on 18 November 2010 and released as a B-side to "History of Modern (Part I)" on 28 February 2011.