AOTW: The xx - "The xx"

To the left? That's not an icon alerting you that we've pirated an image (even if that's true). That's the album cover. I kid you not. And if that doesn't tell you just about everything you need to know about this self-titled, debut album from the xx, I'm not sure what will. The hype surrounding this album, written by four kids in London who couldn't even (legally) get a drink in the States, is deafening... ironic for an album so understated in its presentation that you almost forget you're listening to something refreshingly incredible and exciting.

xx won't knock you down, run your town (tonight), and it certainly won't make you party in the USA. But like other great albums this year (the Dirty Projectors' Bitte Orca being one of them), it highlights its influences without ever becoming derivative. Ask a person today about "R&B" and they'll probably hit you with Top 40 offerings by Trey Songz or R. Kelly. The xx aren't going to smash you over the head with slow jamz, but anyone who claims that "Crystalised" isn't hip-swerve-inducing enough to earn the R&B tag is lying to you. And when lead singers Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim trade lyrics like "I've been down onto my knees/And you just keep on getting closer/Go slow" there isn't much left to the imagination. Provactive lyrics may permeate, but without stellar songwriting, xx would fall flat. When the bass makes its first transition at the beginning of the chorus in "Islands," it's clear that something has happened. It's sexy, and the whole album is filled with moments like that... hell, "Infinity" sounds like it could've been a B-side to Chris Isaak's "Wicked Games!" And he looked like this!! (The xx look like this, if you're curious).

Maybe xx will hit you on the first listen. Maybe it'll take some time. Regardless, in a year that's seen most of its "high profile" albums released and digested already, the xx have come along and dropped what will surely be one of the best albums, debut or otherwise, of the year. Cheers.