The XX The XX The XX The XX

The xx, as music blog Hitfix once said, usually make me zz.

I mean, I get what they're trying to do - the minimalism, the mumbling, the bleak, haunting despair of opening your wardrobe and realising everything you own is black, which is the colour of your soul, and why do your parents hate you, it's not like you need to go to university to get a job, your mate Sarah's brother left school after his GCSEs and now he's working as a chef on a cruise ship earning £10,000 a year, and he gets to go to all these amazing places all the time, so why can't you, it's JUST. NOT. FAIR.

That said, there is something alluring about the London trio's stipped down electro goth. Listen to the album, and you'll find yourself slowly being entranced by the hypnotic, lilting guitar lines and whispered vocals. It's one of those records that makes a virtue of every track sounding exactly the same as the last one.

Video director Saam Farahmand (Klaxons, Janet Jackson) has clearly picked up on this - as the promo clip for The XX's new single is the same seven-second shot repeated over and over again with minor variations.

At first, you'll struggle to spot the difference - but as the video unfolds, the changes become more dramatic until, eventually, everything bursts into flames.

It is totally deep.

The XX - Island

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