Although many of you know The xx from their outstanding hit, “Intro,” on their previous album, a different perspective of The xx is revealed in their newest release, “Coexist.”
While their old songs have been more upbeat, this album combines the minimal use of instruments with soft vocals to show us a different , slower paced view of The xx.
The song “Chained” has really nice flowing vocals with a steady bass in the background. At one point, it slows down and concentrates on the vocals, a transition that really lured me in.
“Fiction” was more complex than “Chained,” due in part to its wonderfully mysterious and dark beat that the listener can really follow.
“Tides” is another song with a good beat; the exquisite rhythm in this song even had my foot tapping. The vocals perfectly match the beat, and they both come together to create a wonderful song.
“Sunset” includes all the elements of a decent song. It has great vocals from the two singers Oliver Sim and Romy Madley-Croft. The song also has a calm drum beat and steady guitar, as well as an instrumental part that begins with guitar strums and fades back to the initial beat, something that makes it easy for the listener to follow the music.
Now for my favorite song of the album: “Swept Away.” It starts off with a weird section featuring Madley-Croft’s vocals, but then it all stops. Then, the bass starts and the beat starts picking up and the song is just instrumental. It reminds me of some of the more upbeat songs from their debut album.
An exciting side-note of this album is an interesting online experiment the creators conducted online.
They gave a special webpage to one fan and asked them to share it with their friends, and if you go to the webpage that is supposed to be shared you can see all the connections made and shared around the world.
“Coexist” provides many more different slow and steady songs by The xx. However, I would much rather prefer for them to create more songs similar to the astonishing ones in their first album. While not as fun and upbeat as their first album, “Coexist” does offer some slow tunes perfect for chilling out.
