The xx: Introverted masters of minimalism
Intimacy comes naturally to one of the best new bands to emerge in the last year, the xx, an extraordinary (and extraordinarily young) trio from London.
The band’s self-titled 2009 debut album sounds almost unbearably vulnerable, as if the listener were eaves-dropping on a late-night conversation between friends. It figures because the band’s 20-year-old vocalists -- guitarist Romy Madley Croft and bassist Oliver Sim -- met in kindergarten at age 3 and have been hanging out together ever since.
“She’s like a sister to me,” Sim says. Though some listeners have read romantic subtext into the vocal interplay, the bassist says there’s nothing of the sort going on.
The band’s self-titled 2009 debut album sounds almost unbearably vulnerable, as if the listener were eaves-dropping on a late-night conversation between friends. It figures because the band’s 20-year-old vocalists -- guitarist Romy Madley Croft and bassist Oliver Sim -- met in kindergarten at age 3 and have been hanging out together ever since.
“She’s like a sister to me,” Sim says. Though some listeners have read romantic subtext into the vocal interplay, the bassist says there’s nothing of the sort going on.
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