The xx
Corner Hotel
February 3, 2010
Listening to The xx’s debut album, xx, is kind of like getting a new crush, or falling asleep wrapped in a cashmere blanket after a long day swimming in the sea… Listening to The xx live, however, is even better than that.
The Corner Band room was steamy by show time but the crowd didn’t seem fazed as they sipped cold beers and chattered under the blasting fans. I had no idea what to expect, buzz on the band live had been pretty meagre, but between the sold out Corner gig and their coveted spot on the Laneway touring circuit signs indicated that these youngsters had a bit of x factor (pardon the pun). Having been somewhat obsessed with their album since its launch in August last year, I’ve been eagerly waiting to see how their sound translates live. Given it was a very minimalist album, produced by band member Jamie Smith (beats & keys), I anticipated quite a low-fi set, and while some might say they played a safe set, with only one album and a couple of covers under their belts, I reckon The xx put out a very solid show.
At 10:15, as promised, the band took to their instruments and dove straight into ‘Intro’. It was a suitable warm up and the crowd swiftly hushed and started to sway with the twangy guitar and gentle synth. Before twenty minutes were up they had churned through radio favourites ‘Crystalised’ and ‘VCR’. Madley Croft’s seductive voice was given perfect attention during ‘Shelter’, which was charged with all the sexuality of a young indie girl who hasn’t yet culminated her desires. Where Sim’s voice sometimes seems dismissive and slightly bored on their album, live and especially in ‘Islands’, he penetrates a lot deeper and makes a much stronger presence, despite his looking scarily like a chav-esque Eminem.
The band rarely looked at each other on stage; the few times they did, they cracked up and you can tell they were old friends making music they love. But for the bulk of the gig they stared into the crowd intensely as if they were telling you something deeply private. The whispered duets between Madley-Croft & Sim are so personal that they can make you feel like you’re eavesdropping on lovers. When they sang ‘Heart Skips a Beat’ I felt like their tale of fresh heartache could almost be my own memory singing to me, it was that intimate, and while I pondered this I looked around the room and the hypnotic nodding from the crowd assured me I wasn’t alone.
Only a couple of times did the band give a taste of what is yet to come in their budding careers. Throbbing bass which vibrated in your spine and at times threatened to tear the ceiling fans down during the otherwise incredibly minimal ‘Fantasy’ really shook the room awake. This new shade to the trio’s sound was an excellent look at where these ingénues might be heading.
Their cover of Womack and Womack’s ‘Teardrops’ was the most composed of their arrangements. Much thicker drums, stronger guitar chords backed up Madley-Croft as she belted the song from her heart, even if her version of belting is more like a very loud whisper.
They finished as suddenly as they started, a swift forty-five minutes had past, leaving one favourite song yet played, which happily for me was their encore. ‘Stars’, a sweet song about a first date was an apt end to the night. Sim sang sincerely to the audience, “But if stars don’t shine for the very first time, then dear it’s fine by me, so fine by me, ‘cos we can give it time. So much time…” I don’t know if this was some kind of modest apology to the crowd for not playing longer, but from where I stood, stars were definitely shining.
