September 1st, 2009 8:43am
When There’s Nothing There
The xx “Basic Space”
When I first encountered The xx, my impression was something along the lines of “Wait, why did we need a less sexy and catchy version of The Kills?” But that wasn’t fair, mainly because despite some superficial similarities, The xx are going for a different type of sexiness and are talented at crafting subtle hooks from their minimal grooves and atmospheric guitar parts. The male/female vocal dynamic is different too. Jamie Hince knows enough to allow Alison Mosshart dominate their songs, but Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim are on equal ground in nearly every track, trading off parts more often than overlapping. There’s a lot of tension in this, but some of it is unintentional: Madley Croft’s voice is dramatically superior to that of Sim, and whereas he has a passable, drowsy tone, the songs light up when she starts singing. They are simply in different leagues, and I find it hard to shake this “Is she really going out with him?” notion when I hear them together because it’s so much like meeting some gorgeous, immensely interesting woman and her shockingly drab boyfriend. Sim is an acquired taste, and I’m getting more acclimated to his charms. At their best, the two approximate a much less creepy version of the dynamic Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird achieved on Maxinquaye and Pre-Millenium Tension. They could take this further, but where they are is just fine — it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for Sim to develop a more sinister affect, and throughout the record and particularly on “Basic Space,” the band are wise enough to employ Madley Croft’s voice like a special effect when they need to push the dynamic of their music over the top.
Buy it from Amazon.
9/1/09 11:50 am
I’m going to start a “Leave Sim Alone!” campaign the way he’s taking shit for not having a “good” voice. She’s not exactly American Idol material either (thank God), so what’s the big deal? This band’s biggest strength is their production, and how it creates a sense of space without letting any one element dominate for two long, and that applies to both of its vocalists.
Exhibit a: “Basic Space” was the first song I heard, and what grabbed me from the start was the sensual way Sim’s voice bounces off those synthetic bass throbs. I genuinely loved the song before I even knew they had another vocalist, although her (much) larger vocal range does take the song into liftoff. He’s not a traditionally gifted singer, but he’s got a great sense of melody and his terse inflections give their songs a grittier sexuality to balance out all that back-lit glossiness. Even on his lone spotlight track, “Fantasy”, he holds his own by letting his voice slip into the mix rather than dominate it, which I could argue is also true of Croft’s performances on the album.
9/1/09 2:47 pm
Nah, I’m telling you, the big strength of this band is her voice. She is an outstanding vocalist. To a certain extent I’m kinda hoping xx kinda burns out early and she starts her own band. This isn’t to say that Sim is bad, or that the arrangements aren’t interesting — I just think she’ll do better later on.
9/1/09 4:17 pm
She’s definitely the more gifted vocalist, but I can’t help but feel that something would be miss without the contrast between their voices. At the same time, that kind of gimmick can easily wear thin and be exposed as exactly that, so maybe it would be better for her to gradually assume dominance over the vocal sphere as Allison does in the Kills. After all, say what you will about his vocals (I’m sticking to my original defense), but he’s an excellent bass player and their production crew absolutely kills, so there’s no reason to call the group off right away, right?
1/26/10 7:15 am
If you like the XX, you should also listen to the Young Marble Giants. It’s almost 30 years old but…
1/26/10 7:40 am
Uh, yeah, I’m familiar. But thanks.