The XX : Can You Hear Us?

By Ben Liew  •  20 Jul 2009 in Music

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Sounding more spooky than porno, The XX are a bunch of precocious 19-year-olds from London’s The Elliot School – the same school that gave us Burial, Four Tet and Hot Chip. Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sun are the 2 lead vocalists of the group and their haunting hushed voices intertwine like long lost lovers. They play lead guitar and bass respectively and are joined by Baria Qureshi (keyboards and guitar) and Jamie Smith (beats, MPC sampler). While they might sound like an ultra-moody and refrained Velvet Underground, the band subtly mixes r’n’b and hip hop elements into their gloomy music. They even covered Aaliyah’s ‘Hot Like Fire’ and listed Mariah Carey to The Pixies and Rihanna to The Cure as their influences. Regardless, this is great nighttime music as it draws you in like a vampire’s gaze. Ooh…

Snuggle up and draw blood to ‘Crystalised’ (Rough Trade) by The XX at www.myspace.com/thexx