The XX

sim solo album out in september

Wow, that's beautiful.

yeah, this is fairly epic. definitely unexpected and better than than the one from a while back.

here's "fruit" from a bit ago, which i missed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6xflB8Vv60

it's alright.

wow so it's FIVE YEARS since their third?

was 5 years between 2nd and 3rd but it doesn't sound like a 4th is on the way anytime soon

happy that oliver is getting this out. i recall being very excited about romy's album, which purportedly existed (i'm sure there was even a big guardian interview where she talked in detail about it) but we're approaching 2 years since she released "lifetime" and nothing else has materialised

oliver's album is pretty forgettable unfortunately, "hideous" is the only real highlight. jamie's production is just not that good outside the constraints of the xx's sound

i checked & while romy did say that an album was planned for 2021 when "lifetime" was released, she also said it wasn't finished yet with a lot more work planned, so i guess she still hasn't finished it yet for whatever reason. there' s an interview from last year where she said she's been learning how to produce for herself.

Oliver Sim has cancelled his solo tour. While I don't love the album, a few songs have grown on me.

I like "Never Here"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aFF09jjZwk

another track from romy at last

I remember the Dazed cover story from ... 2020 when the album was supposed to come out lol. Almost as bad as Sky Ferreira

really enjoying Jamie's own stuff this year tbh including the remix of Sim's 'GMT'

ideally romy's love of trance will make it into the next xx album

good track would sound nice b2b "believe" by cher

'Hideous' reminds me a lot of La Force's 'Mama Papa' from a few years back - would expect xx types to be a fan of her (that track especially)

is this band over? I heard a song by them the other day and realized I'd kind of forgotten about them.

it looks like they have all pivoted to DJing instead.

Oliver put out a solo album mentioned above that was not dj'ing

Romy just sang live with Fred Again, and while Jamie XX is dj'ing -- he creating a recent Notting Hill Carnival track himself

romy is working on a very slowly gestating solo album, jamie has been putting out the occasional solo track too

figure they'll make another album in a few years once romy's released hers, they still seem to be all on good terms

romy is onto something good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6gGG7u0dbE

The Romy album is out today and it's fantastic

it's quite good, makes me hope the eventual next xx album goes full deep house

Shazam’d a song and was pleased it was from this album.

this is pretty solid

This is truly the year of retro '90s house

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/06/arts/music/romy-madley-croft-mid-air.html

Growing up, she explained, the first music that spoke to her identity as a gay woman was mostly what she jokingly referred to as “lesbian acoustic music.” “I’ve always fought against that,” she said. “The reason there’s electronic music in the early demos of the xx is me, wanting to make something else.” She readily credits a new generation of rock and indie acts with broadening the scope of queer guitar music, but “indie, and rock, that’s not really my thing now.” She came to a firm decision: “I want to make dance pop.”...She mentioned Everything but the Girl — which Madley Croft’s parents raised her on — or even Cher’s “Believe,” which she cited as her favorite song. But rooting the anthemic big beats is inspiration taken from more sober moments in her life: processing the grief of both of her parents’ deaths before she was 21; her ongoing struggles to conquer self-doubt and adapt to a new romance.

“She makes very catchy melodies. That’s the thing that always gets me,” Jamie xx said in a phone interview. He noted that the album was filled with earnest tracks that “could become really big pop songs — and could be super cheesy — but there’s always a level of restraint and classiness that she brings to it.”...In early 2018, she was paired for a songwriting session with a young up-and-coming producer named Fred Gibson, a.k.a. the now white-hot musician Fred again.. The chemistry was immediate. “He has a very magical charm — which is amazing, as a songwriter and a producer — to make someone feel at ease,” she said.

She mentioned Everything but the Girl — which Madley Croft’s parents raised her on

I always thought she had a very similar singing style to Tracey Thorne.

I desperately want extended versions of Loveher and She's On My Mind. just gorgeous songs.

https://consequence.net/2024/01/the-xx-new-album-confirmed/?

They should add more members to the band so that they can also do solo albums first.