The xx have revealed that they still make music separately in their bedrooms over iChat.
In BBC Radio 1 documentary Night Time With The xx, which aired last night, singer Romy Madley-Croft revealed: “iChat is a really good way of working – that seperation is nice – but we do sit together and listen to demos, talk about them.”
After initial sessions, they only regrouped later in a shared studio to make new album Coexist, which is released on Monday (September 10). In the documentary, presented by Huw Stephens, the band describe how growing up has affected their lyric writing.
“Our first songs were fantastical experiences about love – we were only 16, we didn’t know a lot and we hadn’t really gotten up to much,” said Oliver Sim. “But as time went on it became about stuff we were going through.”I thought this new album would be like a diary, because now we’ve actually had those experiences, but I’ve actually found myself reverting more to the fantastical – I’ve been storytelling, writing about how things could play out in my head, rather than how they have.”
The London band will celebrate the release of Coexist with a trio of intimate UK shows this month. They will take to the stage at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on September 10, followed by gigs at The Coal Exchange in Cardiff on September 11 and Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on September 12.
The xx are also booked to play Bestival on the Isle of Wight on Friday (September 7), making their only UK festival appearance of the summer on the event’s Main Stage before headliners Florence And The Machine. Appearing on the BBC documentary, Florence Welch describing the first time she encountered the band.
She said: “I went to one of [The xx’s] first gigs, maybe their very first gig. It was very subdued and I didn’t quite know what to make of it. I remember hearing the record and it clicked… there was something so moving about it, so quiet and seductive, and its minimalism was its power… like something tugging at your insides.”