Co-Exist (Reissue)

The xx exist in a self-created cosmos. Their debut album “xx” moved with wondrous perfection between ambiguity and reduction. In the age of total digital publicity, ‘xx’ was pop music with maximum privacy settings and defined a new style. Now Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, and Jamie Smith are back with a new album: “Coexist.” A lot has happened in the meantime, most notably that the band has grown up. After the release of their debut in the summer of 2009, the three spent most of the following year and a half far away from home, bringing their sound to ears and hearts around the globe. From America to Australia and Japan, the band was celebrated by audiences and critics alike, and their success was also reflected in rising album sales and awards such as the prestigious Mercury Music Prize. During the band's subsequent hiatus, Jamie, the quietest of the three band members, became the face of The xx. Between his many DJ gigs, he worked steadily on his skills as a producer, developing his own unique style. Remixes such as Adele's hit song “Rolling In The Deep” and the reworking of Gil Scott-Heron's last album made Jamie a highly respected producer even beyond the band's fame. Jamie produced the title track of Drake's million-selling album “Take Care.” For the new album, all three worked together in their own studio from the outset for the first time. While traces of R&B can still be found in The xx's sound, an increased influence of electronic music is noticeable. This aspect is reflected in Romy's loop-like guitar playing and the corresponding bass lines. All in all, “Coexist” has become a self-confident, mature album on which little and yet at the same time much has changed. It sounds older and wiser, more confident and still extraordinarily tender and profound. It has become the album on which light returns after suffering.