Xx (album)
xx is the debut album by English indie pop band the xx. It was released on 14 August 2009 by Young Turks, an imprint label of XL Recordings. xx sold steadily over its first few years of release, becoming a sleeper hit in the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2013, xx was ranked number 237 on NME magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
About Xx (album) in brief
xx is the debut album by English indie pop band the xx. It was released on 14 August 2009 by Young Turks, an imprint label of XL Recordings. The album received widespread acclaim from critics, many of whom named it one of the year’s best records. xx sold steadily over its first few years of release, becoming a sleeper hit in the United Kingdom and the United States. The record proved highly influential in subsequent years, as its distinctive stylistic elements were incorporated by many indie bands and top-selling pop acts. In 2013, xx was ranked number 237 on NME magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The xx were greatly influenced by American R&B producers such as The Neptunes and Timbaland, whose minimalist productions incorporated vocal harmonies, clapping percussion, unconventional samples and pronounced beats. The band’s Jamie Smith produced xx on his laptop and created electronic beats for the songs, which he then mixed in a detailed process with Rodaidh McDonald. When Qureshi was dismissed from the group shortly after the album’s release, the xx continued to play as a trio on a protracted concert tour that helped increase their fanbase, reputation in the press and confidence as performers. The group performed live and recorded their demos. After posting the demos on their Myspace page, thexx drew the interest of Young Turks. They submitted the demos to XL’s head office at Ladbroke Grove and were subsequently signed to a recording contract.
xx recorded the album from December 2008 to February 2009 at the label’s in-house studio in London. The melancholic songs on xx feature minimalist arrangements and are built around Smith’s beats, Oliver Sim’s basslines and sparse guitar figures played by Baria QuresHI and Romy Madley Croft, who employed reverb in her lead guitar parts. Most of the songs are sung as low-key duets by Croft and Sim, both of whom wrote emotional lyrics about love, intimacy, loss and desire. xx won the Mercury Prize for the album in 2010 and went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2011 and the triple crown for Best Song, Song of the Year and Best Song Written for Visual Media in 2012. xx were influenced by alternative rock, electronica and post-punk sounds, and drew comparisons from critics to alternative rock and alternative rock. They also covered Aaliyah’s “Hot Like Fire” and Womack & Womacks’s “Teardrops” and other past R&b hits when they performed live. xx’s manager Caius Pawson gave him three CDs of demos titled “Recorded in Rehearsal Space” and “What Producers Did Wrong” The group worked with Diplo and Kwes, to no success before they were introduced to the audio engineer RodaidH McDonald by the xx’s boss. The audio engineer was impressed by the intimate quality and use of silence on the demos, which they felt may have challenged other producers who wanted to incorporate their individual tastes.
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