Coexist | Music for dancing alone

Richard DiCicco
Staff Writer

The xx
“Coexist”
Young Turks record label
Grade | B-

The xx have a lot to live up to. Their self-titled debut from 2009 not only earned them critical praise and a Mercury Prize but also the open arms of the modern dance scene.

The band’s synthesized beats have been a popular source of sampling over the past three years, appearing at one point in Rihanna’s 2011 song “Drunk on Love.” The British quartet’s first album was incredibly refined, showing admirable restraint and control over their dark and silky R&B.

In just one record, The xx famously established themselves as masters of subtle tension and powerful silences. First impressions are everything, and debuts like “xx” are precious and rare.

Enter 2012: The xx had arrived fully-formed, which has only made their creative progression harder for them to manage. In the three years since their debut, they deliberately ejected fourth member Baria Qureshi from the group, and the band’s beat maker Jamie Smith kept himself busy with highly-regarded remix and production jobs under the moniker of Jamie xx.

Each of these developments, as well as the band’s rekindled relationship with the dancefloor, shape the The xx’s second LP “Coexist,” which is, unsurprisingly, very similar to their debut.

Lithe guitars with just a touch of reverb still hover over every manufactured drum beat, and Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim still trade softly-sung words of unrequited love

Yet it works, and that’s okay. To his credit, Jamie xx’s beats do have a lot more heft to them this time around, in part a result of him stretching his legs in the interim between albums.

However, The xx will most certainly take flak for this. It is true that the record is even more skeletal than its predecessor, eschewing dynamics for a quiet rumble and pitter-patter club beats. But, to me, the band’s hesitance to alter their unique aesthetic reflects fear more than confidence. Hopefully, history will prove me wrong.

Heavy-handed career criticisms aside, “Coexist” is achingly beautiful. If, like the bells of a clock, the music could evoke a time of day, it would be the darkest, quietest moments of solitude in the after-midnight hours. Hazy lyrics hover over each song with whispers of longing and spoiled romance, such as in “Chained” (“We used to be closer than this; is it something you miss?”).

Though the album as a whole is strong, few tracks really stand out on “Coexist,” and that does bother me. Sophomore records can generally only go in one of two ways, and The xx chose to go for refinement over expansion.

“Coexist” does not deviate from the group’s debut in many significant ways, but for now, that’s okay. The record still managed to resonate with me in the same way as their debut. The xx will always be the perfect “dancing alone” music: delicate, intimate and barely there, like the best-kept secret.