When I received the album for review a few weeks back, I was pretty positive about it. Not without reason, either. I hadn’t realised at the time just how much positive press the album was receiving in other quarters. It’s certainly unusual to find myself in-step with fashions, especially with a record that doesn’t seem to belong anywhere.
‘Basic Space,’ actually released ahead of the album, provides ample justification for why The xx are worthy of the praise. Laid back bed-sit pop that shuns the sleek production values of most commercial releases, but is similarly far too smooth and too carefully arranged and recorded to be considered remotely lo-fi, The xx are the perfect antithesis to, well, almost everything at the moment. It’s intelligently done, and is unassuming without being wishy-washy.
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The same is true of non-album track ‘Blood Red Moon,’ which has a more uptempo but nevertheless chilled vibe about its bottom-end groove over which echoed guitars are lightly picked. These two tracks demonstrate The xx’s wonderful knack for creating a sound and atmosphere that is a truly unique fusion.
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